Today’s Scripture Reading– Genesis 33,35

This week’s Memory Verse:

(18) My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:18

Highlight:

(2) Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
(3) And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

Genesis 35:2-3

Explanation:
God told Jacob to go back to a place called “Bethel” which means the House of God. It was a place where He had met with God before. It was a significant and consecrated place where God had worked in Jacob’s life. When Jacob had been there before He was by himself. He had very little. Now he had been exceedingly blessed by God. He had a family and wealth. God had truly blessed him. Jacob took the opportunity to lead his family to sanctify themselves. Look at the imperitives here: “Put away”, “be clean”, “change your garments”, “let us arise and go up”. He tells them what he will do. “I will make there an altar unto God”. He tells them why He would have them do this: “who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went”.

The false gods didn’t help. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and now the God of Jacob was the one who helped him. It was time for Jacob to lead his family to worship the God that brought him blessing. He made a decision to take his family to the place where God had met with their Father and husband. It was time for all of them to worship that God, and for that God to be their God.

Application:
We should not expect our kids to respond to God if we are not willing to respond to Him ourselves. We should not expect our kids to worship God if we are not doing it as well. And like all things in life, it is up to a leader to lead others to do the difficult and right thing. This is true in our families. We take for granted the influence we can have on other people in our life for good. We must lead those in our own families by example. Help them put away the idols in their life. Help them clean up. Help them remember what God has done. Then we must lead them to worship the God from whom all blessing flows.

Response:
God thank you for blessing me and blessing my family. Help me to lead my family to worship you and to remember all that you have done in my life. Amen.