Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 41:17-57, Genesis 42:1-17
NT: Matthew 13:24-46
Ps: Psalm 18:1-15
Pr: Proverbs 4:1-6
Today´s notable verse:
The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God is my Rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2 (NIV)
What an amazing, beautiful, and powerful declaration of God at work in our lives! My Rock: my immovable and unchanging foundation, upon which everything else is built. My Fortress: my mighty protection from evil – and the Evil One – of this world that sets itself against me. My Deliverer: the One and Only capable of redeeming me from my own sinful nature, and restoring His relationship with me. Into where or whom else could I consider turning to take refuge? This verse is worthy of more meditation; if nothing else, my life the past several months has revealed the truth of these words in such a new and deeper understanding.
Some notes on the parable of the wheat and the weeds: First, note the point at which Jesus says the wheat and weeds can be distinguished and separated – the harvest. It is at this point that the wheat has matured, and bows over under the weight of the wheat grains. The weeds, having no such heavy grain heads, remain upright. Thus, the wheat and weeds are distinguished. Perhaps this analogy represents a distinction between those who bow before the Father in humility, and those who continue to stand upright in their own arrogance and pride? Second, I love this imagery: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matthew 42:43a) Have you ever seen a wheat field shining in the reflection of the sun?
Photograph by Pher Photography.
What a beautiful image of the righteous reflecting the glory of the Father!
The One Year Bible Blog asks:
Comments from you & Question of the Day – Okay, back to all of my fretting above about if I was given all that Joseph was given by the Pharaoh in today’s readings… 🙂 What are your thoughts on this – if you were given all of these things, would it inflate your ego possibly? Would you possibly forget about God?
I truly believe that God does not allow us more than we can handle – and I think that principle applies not only to hardship and temptation, but to blessing as well. Remember, Joseph received this blessing after remaining righteous and humble through his previous life experiences: being betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, being tempted day after day by the seduction of the wife of a powerful man, then being falsely accused by her after rejecting her advances, then spending years in prison for that false accusation. Joseph in humility and wisdom beyond years allowed God to work through all these circumstances, and developed an amazing relationship with Him. (Just think of the relationship Joseph must have had already early in his life, to have received such a blessing, not only of God revealing his future plans through dreams, but that God revealed a future of such glory to Joseph. This revelation alone would be more than most of us could handle without having to deal with major issues of pride.)
No matter how much God chooses to prosper and bless us – and to be sure, to do so is His plan! – we can be sure of two things: one, the blessing will not be greater than our ability to give in to the temptation of pride, and two, that temptation will not be greater than our ability to overcome it humbly through God. As we demonstrate our faithfulness in remaining humble through small blessings, God will continue to bless us increasingly greater and greater. (A concept we will discuss when we reach the parable of the talents!)