READ: Genesis 35, 36; Psalm 18; Matthew 9:18-38
SCRIPTURE: Genesis 35: 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
OBSERVATION: The same God who promised Jacob, "I am with you" when he fled to Laban (Gen.28:12-15), later told him to "go back" to his father's land (Gen.31:3). Now he asks Jacob to go to Bethel, a place where Jacob had his first encounter of God. Earlier, Jacob called that place Bethel. Bethel means, as Jacob put it, the house of God (Gen.28:17-19). Earlier he met God in that place when he started his journey of obedience to his parents. Now in obedience to God, he comes back to Bethel, where he started his relationship with God. He testifies God's faithfulness in his life. Although God did not ask him to remove anything, he voluntarily calls his family for a cleansing, before they come to the house of God. Jacob removed everything that God dislikes, from his life and family. And then he buried those things.
APPLICATION: My God is faithful in his promises and always answers my prayers. He wants me to come to him without any delay. However, when I come to the house of God, I need to remove anything that is displeasing to my God. Whatever it may be, whether precious or useless, I need to have a clear conscience, and must be ready to remove them from my life in order to purify me. As Jesus says, ""Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). "The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for your faithfulness in fulfilling your promises and answering my prayers. Help me to have a pure heart when I come and stand before you. Thank you for the sacrifice your did on the cross. Forgive my sins and purify my heart. Help me to live a blameless life before you. Amen.
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