Jacob Instructed His Household (Gen. 35:2-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04-16-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus: Jacob instructed his household   

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 35:2-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “2  So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; 3 and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."  4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.”

           

            These verses continue to speak of the new beginning that Jacob was going through after the Lord had spoken to him in verse one where God had told Jacob to go to Bethel.  It seems that Jacob must have realized that he had not obeyed the Lord by going to Bethel as soon as he entered the land after leaving Laban, and he may have realized that the tragedy over Diana would not have happened if he would have obeyed the Lord.

           

            Jacob now gathers his family together and tells them to get rid of all of their idols and to change their clothes after bathing themselves.  This was a sign of a new beginning and by washing themselves it was a sign of cleansing themselves from sin and begin to follow the Lord with all of their hearts.  It is refreshing to see Jacob do these things as he had not done them in the past and not doing them had caused a lot of trouble for his family. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  God is gracious in showing me this section of Scripture at this time of my life, for I too need to stand up to the wrong things that have been both tempting me and on occasion have caused me to fail the Lord.  I need to have some spiritual cleansing and to have a new beginning with the Lord.

 

 

The Word of God has been a great challenge to my heart as well as brought conviction to me as I read and studied God’s Word this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To do as Jacob did in these verses, and that is to bury the idols that I have been following and to spiritual bath in the Word of God and change the way that I have been living.