Offer Your Best
“Juda said to his father Israel, ‘Send the land with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame before you forever. For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.’
“Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man as a present, a little balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.’” Genesis 43:8-11
What a difficult time for the man, Israel! He had lost his most favoured son, Joseph and now the entire family would face certain death from the famine if he did not give up his last son, Benjamine. So, like most of us, he delayed making the decision. Once he decided, he chose to ‘stack the deck’ in his family’s favour by gathering a collection of valuable items as gifts to soften the heart of this terrible Egyptian ruler.
Among the gifts were pistachio nuts. These were very precious in Israel’s time on the scale of the other gifts selected. They were difficult to raise, the nuts were difficult to harvest and, if not roasted properly, almost impossible to open. Yet, the meat inside was tasty and the green colour symbolised new beginnings.
Perhaps we are all like Israel sometimes, especially when we have been doing our own thing for awhile and are searching for a way back to the Father. We clean up our act, we start reading the Bible more (sometimes every day), pray more, attend church every time the door is open – sort of a spiritual-metaphorical gift of pistachio nuts.
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Take care with love, especially His, from Darlene, who still prays for you each day.
PS: You can also find the devotions on line/ on your mobile phone here: www.weakdaydevotion.com .
NOTES: I choose to believe the Bible because it's a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They reported supernatural events that took place before, of specific prophecies; and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.
The Five Solas: Individuals are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone to the glory of God alone!
Find my full statement of faith: https://especiallyhislove.blogspot.com (where you will also find a series of Bible studies). For the books, go to Amazon books. For prayer requests/ updates, email: darlenerichard@gmail.com