Hello friends and welcome to our first double digit today. Give yourself a double high five! (Wait, how do you do that!??! AH!) Alright fine, don't give yourself a double high five but give a stranger an air double high five today instead :) today Jacob and Esau reunite...I wonder how that will go? Guess we'll just have to read and find out. Let's dig in!
Reading for the Day
Audio Bible
Meditation and Questions to Consider
What stuck out for you today? What remains with you? What inspires you? What troubles you? Why do you think that is? What is God calling you to do in response to your discomfort? Some of my own thoughts are below if you wish to meditate on those as well.
I absolutely love the story of Jacob wrestling with God at the end of Genesis 32. I find this chapter to give me permission to wrestle with scripture. To challenge it, to doubt it, to proclaim it, and to admonish it. God accepts my struggle not as a weakness but as a pathway to blessing. What part of your faith do you wrestle with the most? How can you view that not as a roadblock to progress but an opportunity to dig in deeper?
The reunion of Jacob and Esau is powerful to me - it both demonstrates Jacob's growth as a person but also the tremendous heart that Esau has. There are plenty of people I know in life (myself include) that are pompous, arrogant, irresponsiblie and just generally not fun to be around. But Esau (and God) didn't give up on those people like I tend to. Rather, they celebrated how they matured. How have you "Grown up"? Take a moment to give praise to God for growth you've experienced and meditate in grace for the friends that stayed with you through your growth.
How do you respond to the story of Dinah's rape? Do you side with Jacob's sons who return the evil act with mass violence or do you agree with Jacob that a good leader understands the larger evil on the horizon? I cheered on the brothers as I read this, but I also struggle with the extent the brothers went to taking innocent captives. What do you think is the right course of action here?
Consider these questions and share your own thoughts either in the comments section below or by taking part in the discussion group at https://www.chagrinfallsumc.org/group/home-group/discussion
Prayer
Dear God, allow me to be a channel of your peace, let my heart be one of welcoming and reconciliation, let my voice be warm and kind to all I encounter, keep me accountable to the ways of you. When I mess up, may I never forget, that your depth of forgiveness is greater than my biggest mistakes. With all the love I am capable of I lift this prayer to you to be magnified, Amen.
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