I have been struck by Jacob's blessing for each of his 12 sons as he was about to die. I too want to pass my final blessing upon my spiritual, physical, and national children. I do not have the spiritual gift of predictive prophecy that God gave to Jacob But with the gifts that God has given me I offer you this blessing.
We look first at the blessing of strength. Genesis 49:3 addresses the strength of Reuben, Kacob’s eldest son.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
pre-eminent in dignity and pre-eminent in power.”
So many of you have exceptional strength and abilities. In classes that I taught I worked with some of the brightest students I have ever known. So many in my own family have wonderful gifts. For generations our nation has been blessed with people gifted with exceptional ingenuity, integrity, and ability.
But Reuben lacked stability. Verse 4 of Genesis 49 reads,
“Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence,
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!”
We too have become unstable morally, politically, emotionally, and spiritually. And the heart of the instability of America is the same as that of Reuben. Our most virulent sins are sexual. In our minds we have completely severed sex from marriage and children. The pleasure of sexual relations has become our purpose. And rather than sealing relationships, who our partners are has become irrelevant in the selfish pursuit of pleasure.
I do not know whether Reuben’s sin was the root or the fruit of his instability, but our sin is ravaging our strength as a nation. I cannot see how there was any blessing for Reuben in his father’s words. But that does not have to be the case for my children or for our country.
First, we have the blessing of a warning in these words. Through them you can see what is happening in your life and in our country, and because of us in the world. And seeing the results of our sins is the first step toward the redemption that has been purchased for us at infinite cost. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we can be forgiven. He paid the price for our sins.
Because of Jesus we can be redeemed. He can change our thinking and purposes. Even if those around you are not willing to change, you can trust God to change your heart.
And because of Jesus we can pray. You can pray for God to change your heart more and more every day. You can pray for your children, and you need to pray for them. And you can pray for our nation and the world.
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http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/
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