Monday 10 Jul 2023

July 10: Genesis 28:10-15

Key Verse: Genesis 28:13
There above it stood the Lord, and he said: ‘I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.

Devotion:
How closely do you listen to God? I know I have problems listening to God at times with all the distractions of the world around me, but I try to set time aside where I can focus on things and allow God to guide me. So what happens if you don’t get it right and you don’t do what God is trying to tell you? Well, I guess that is part of being human and living where we live.

I think it would only be by living in a monastery or other place where you can separate yourself from the world where you would get to focus properly on what God is saying. Even then if you mind is full on things it will be hard to focus; and my mind is always full of stuff because my mind is always active.

Here Jacob, being a direct descendant of Abraham who was to be the father of a great nation too numerous to number, is being re-told the same prophecy. Does this mean God reneged on His word? Far from it. Abraham was not promised to have thousands of children, but to be the start of something great. Jacob is given the same promise for him and his descendants. The key being descendants.

We do need to listen to what God is trying to tell us and not make up our own minds about what we think we should do. There are times where you do have to take the initiative and there are times you need to stop and listen. It’s taken me a long time to tell the difference between the two, and I still get it wrong at times. The key being I am trying to listen to God and obey Him!

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like it is difficult to listen to God?

Have you tried doing something to see if He will support you?