Day 13 – September 18, 2023: Genesis 48-50 and Psalm 31

Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait upon the Lord. That sounds like a sentence upon which we can count to boost up our faith and know that God is on our side and wants us to succeed. That often is a question that people have. Is God on our side? Does God really want us to do well, or is He just waiting for us to fail so that he can call us out and punish us? Many may haver a perspective of God as a gotcha God, how disheartening that would be. God wants us to have a life of joy, and that defines how we understand the role of God in our lives.

The end of Jacob’s life is marked by the blessing of Joseph’s sons, and then the blessing of all twelve of the boys. Some of them barely seem like a blessing, and more like a bit of a curse. For example, look at the blessing for Simon and Levi where he says: “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” Can I have your curse instead? This is then followed with Joseph’s death and the end of the book of Genesis. So we have in these first few weeks seen all of Genesis and all of the Gospel of John. It is a great way to begin this journey of ours through Scripture.