Devotional Thoughts for This Morning
No More “Tit-for-tat”
Genesis 42:22
“Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”
As a culture, we are much enamored with the concept of “reaping what you sow.” It is all over our newspapers and our entertainment – we love when the hardworking underdog ends up winning against the odds, or when criminals finally get caught and must pay for their crimes. We tell workers that they have to “put in their time” to earn respect and credibility, and students will surely remember from the last semester whether their diligence (or lack of) paid off. What we are saying is this: what you put in, is what you get out.
While reaping what we sow as it plays out in the mind of the general public is not exactly described by the Word, we know that there are consequences (good and bad), for all the things we do. Here, a similar mindset captures Reuben’s thoughts. Twenty-two years later, Joseph’s blood continues to weigh on the conscience of the brothers; Reuben believes that their sin will finally catch up with them, and now they will have to pay dearly.
But, the story of Joseph’s brothers provides a twist to this idea – we may often reap what we sow, but because God rules over the earth and He loves us, we always reap in grace many more times than we have sown. Believers know that God’s grace provides far better outcomes than we can earn. Whatever was done in the past will be covered over by God’s grace. And though we will have new privilege to partner in God’s work, it is He who carries out all plans and displays incredible amounts of mercy and love.
Today, let us be generous in sowing mercy, forgiveness, and love wherever we go. We should take every opportunity to express a faithful and godly lifestyle. However, though we know we will fall short, we can also give thanks in advance that our God’s hand rests upon every circumstance. Let us face every decision and consequence with a peaceful assurance that He will continuously send streams of mercy into our lives.
Prayer: Lord, we praise You for being in charge over this earth! Thank You that we can live lives that are covered by Your grace. Thank You for restoring and redeeming every work of our hands. Give us hearts that desire to sow things in accordance with Your character and will. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Numbers 21
Lunch Break Study
Read Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Questions to Consider
- What was promised to each one of the workers? Why is this significant?
- What do the first workers’ reactions reveal about what they thought their reward should be?
- Let’s take time to look at ourselves and determine how well we reconcile our work and God’s reward for ourselves. Are we more inclined to be overwhelmed by God’s generosity, or do we look at what others receive and compare with jealousy?
Notes
- The hired workers at the beginning of the day were promised a denarius – about a day’s worth of wages. This may seem to be a proper wage for their labor. The men hired at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours were told that they would be paid ”whatever is right.”
- The workers were upset with their wages. Although they had agreed to work for a denarius, when they saw others receiving the same benefit. They felt that their additional labor and harsh labors entitled them to additional benefits from the master of the house.
- This parable is meant to show how, even when God bestows grace in our lives, we may be tempted to desire earning ’more’ than the others around us. We may try to associate the grace we receive with the ’work’ that we have done. We will be tempted to forget that our commitment is solely between us and the Master; whatever He determines for us is fair and generous. Let us understand how lavish His grace is for us, and there will not be a need to look elsewhere.
Evening Reflection
We will end the week reflecting on God’s grace in our lives. Let’s take time to note how He has provided for us, redeemed, and restored. This thankfulness will allow us to see how abundant and generous His grace is over us.
There is a Christian colleague I catch up with from time to time. A while back, I had confessed to her that I had felt disengaged, unmotivated to work furiously towards the success of our company. She had been feeling the opposite: she felt blessed to work hard. Over the last couple of years, her team had been very successful, and each person had received generous bonuses. To her surprise, she was able to pay off her student loans years ahead of schedule. After she saw how God had used a seemingly worldly thing to miraculously provide in her life, she believed that working hard was a way to honor Him. Upon hearing this, I was chastened and encouraged to work hard as an act of worship.
Whether new to Christian faith or seasoned, we all desire to “know God’s will,” or find direction in various aspects of our lives—careers, relationships, locations. It is good to seek alignment, because we believe that God knows what is best for His people. We also believe that it is possible for us to hear Him speak through various means—His Word, in time of prayer, through others, and circumstances around us. But as important as it is to hear God, it is just as important to meet His revelation with obedience on our end!
When you have a question, where do you go? All of us have go-to sources: a knowledgeable friend, Google, Reddit, even Yahoo Answers! Last year, I experienced a situation in which a colleague had told leaders of my team something untruthful about what I had done (others brought it to my attention). I was shocked and upset. Unsure of what to do, I consulted several places: I went to my manager, I read dozens of Harvard Business Review articles on dealing with conflicts—in short, I tried to get all sorts of opinions.
The AMI QT devotionals for January 29-February 4 are provided by Christine Li. Christine graduated from University of Pennsylvania and currently lives and works in New York City. She attends Remnant Church in Manhattan.
When I was in college, my servant’s team decided we would start sharing our testimonies during small group. I recounted an experience of healing that God had miraculously worked in my life. Later, to my surprise, four people approached me independently, all sharing how they were going through similar hardships and, through my story, had been encouraged to believe that God could heal and restore them. Afterwards, I began to see that all experiences God puts into my life (both miracles and hardships) are not just for my own benefit, but for others as well.
Dreams and their interpretation have probably fascinated people since they first started sleeping (when Adam lost his rib to Eve? 😊). Most dreams seem to linger in the half-slumber of early morning only to fade away by the time we are done brushing our teeth; but with some dreams we know as soon as we wake up that we’ve just experienced something out of the ordinary, and we ask ourselves, “What does this mean?” We aren’t taught to seek meaning; it is just instinctive: we know that without a good interpretation, a dream is just a dream. So where do interpretations come from, and how do they come about?
“How are you doing? Doing OK?” Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Israel with the saints of the Church of Southland and overseas workers from various places. I have many good memories of the trip, including enlightening teachings in historical settings, the beauty of the seasides, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Traveling in a group of about a hundred people, we didn’t always get to have extended conversations, but an impression that’s particularly stayed with me has been that of different people at various points throughout the trip greeting me with a kind, quick but sincere, “How are you doing? Doing OK?”
Pat and Lorraine meet up every so often for dinner with a group of their friends from college. As they commiserate about the challenges of their respective work situations, some because of their bosses and co-workers, others because of the seeming meaninglessness of their jobs, none are fully aware, but each is being prepared for greatness.
There is an episode in a T.V. series where the good guy gets the bad guy by planting a microphone in his tooth when he goes to the dentist. The good guy is able to hear and record everything the bad guy says, 24/7, and the bad guy quickly incriminates himself. It was enough to make one stop and think, “What if someone recorded everything I said, 24/7? Would my life and words stand up to the test? What kind of person would I be revealed to be?”