CHANGE

IN THE MIDST OF CHANGE

Good Evening to All!


Today's Seed: "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." Genesis 35:2

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Change is never easy. From job transitions to moving far away from home, we resist and sometimes fear change. Jacob was moving his family to Bethel because God had given him instructions to go. Jacob told his family that if they were going to change locations, they needed to change themselves too. He instructed them to throw away their foreign gods, clean up, and even change their clothes. Like Jacob's family, we should throw away anything that might be keeping us from making the changes that God wants in our lives. If we rely on anything other than God, we are keeping "foreign gods." Luck, material possessions, and sometimes even our own abilities can become our gods. Jacob asked his family to clean up their outward lives, but the real change he wanted for them is found in the next verse: "The come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God...(Genesis 35:3) Jacob persuaded his family to stop the way they had been living and begin to worship God. Jacob had a great influence on his family and servants because he recognized that cleaning up the visible parts of our lives can only be meaningful if we also clean up the inside.

Dig Deeper: The Hebrew word for "change" is chalaph, which is sometimes translated renew or sprout. The picture is of grass in the spring or a tree putting out new leaves. To really change is not merely getting rid of the old, it means being renewed or sprouting new growth.

Background Bulb: How could Jacob ask his family to make all these changes? Because he had been changed. He had been a deceiver and a thief when he tricked his brother to gain the family inheritance. He had run away from home. But god changed Jacob into a man of faith and courage because his heart was changed one night when he wrestled with God until dawn. God blessed him with new vision and courage for the future. He became the father of the nation of Israel.

Weed & Water: We often work to change our appearance . Fitness magazines and videos and gyms are some of the fastest growing businesses in the United States. We want to look better and make a good impression, but a change in appearance will not change our bad attitudes or give us hope. Only a changed relationship with Jesus Christ can renew the person we are on the inside. Have you allowed Him to throw away your old negative attitudes and change you into a positive courageous person?


Think about it: Why might Jacob's family have been motivated to change when asked? Who has been the greatest influence in your life and helped you change?

Prayer Pot: Lord, help me not to fear change but to embrace opportunities. . . (Insert your thoughts).


Take-Away Idea: Changed people change people.



Tonights lesson was taken from "Bible Seeds Study Devotional for Growing in God's Word by Patsy Clairmont, and Florence Littaur

Good Night to All and May God Bless!