The AMI QT devotionals from Jan. 15-21 are provided by Cami King. Cami, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania and Gordon Conwell Seminary (M.Div.), is currently serving as a staff at Journey Community Church in Raleigh.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
“THE DANGER OF FAVORITISM”
Genesis 37:1-4
Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
Let’s get to know one another for a moment! What is your favorite color? (Mine is black. Weird, I know.) What is your favorite food? (Mine is steak—medium rare please and thank you!) What is your favorite drink? (Mine is hot tea—I’m really loving all tings oolong these days.) Who is your favorite singer? (Ugh— too tough to choose. I’d have to say a tie between Donny Hathaway, Nina Simone, and Sam Cooke). We all have favorites—things that bring us the most joy, things attached to precious memories from our past, things that speak to us in a special way.
As far as I can tell, most favoritism is fairly innocuous: some things and some people speak to our personality, interests, and experiences in a deeper way than others—and can even be good. Our experiences with God can connect us more deeply to specific people, places, and things (I had a favorite chair because it was where I met with God consistently for years and years). Yet some favoritism can be much more problematic and even toxic. This kind of favoritism can become an avenue for sin and dissension. And that brings us to today’s passage.
Today, we meet Joseph. And the first thing the Bible writer wants us to know about him—other than how young he is— is that he is his father Jacob’s favorite child. If you’ve been journeying with us through Genesis, you’ll remember that Jacob is no stranger to favoritism. He favored one wife over the other (a sentence that makes me queasy as a modern woman), and his parents had favorites between him and his brother Esau—all of which had devastating consequences for the people involved.
While we are all allowed to have favorites, we learn from this family to be careful not to allow favoritism to lead us to sinful partiality, because that harms everyone (both favored and unflavored alike). And if we’re not careful, this kind of partiality can lead us to unintentionally overlook those whom God has entrusted to us and to miss opportunities to be a blessing to them.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, make me aware of any blind spots I have in the area of favoritism. Thank You so much for all the special people and things You’ve given me. Thank You for all my favorites things. Help me to not allow those blessings to become a curse to others in my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Numbers 1
Lunch Break Study
Read Romans 2:1-11: Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
Questions to Consider
- According to the passage, why is it dangerous for us to pass judgment on others?
- What is the purpose of God’s kindness? How is God’s grace and mercy towards us connected to His judgment?
- What does Paul mean when He says “God shows no partiality”? How is this a comfort to us?
- Are there any people in your life you’ve been judging lately? Re-read the passage above and spend some time in repentance.
Notes
- Because we are not impartial, and therefore, we are not qualified to judge. We do the same things as those we judge. Also, when we judge others, we take our eyes off of ourselves and our own shortcomings. We lose sight of God who is the Righteous Judge who will not only judge those who we are judging but will more importantly judge us!
- God’s kindness is given so that we may repent. God’s forbearance with us is a means of grace so that we have the opportunity to see the errors of our ways and the greatness of God’s love toward us, so that we may turn to God and live. Oftentimes, we take God’s kindness as weakness and powerlessness or God’s forbearance as slack in justice or judgment, when instead it is God being merciful toward us and patient with us out of a loving desire not to see us eternally destroyed.
- This statement doesn’t mean that God has no standards. The rest of the passage (and the witness of Scripture as a whole) makes that clear. What it does mean is that God is fair and all who seek Him and seek to do good will receive eternal life, no matter their background.
Evening Reflection
While we saw the dangers of sinful partiality in favoritism in our passage this morning and learned of the dangers of our own judgments this afternoon, we also know that our favorite things and preferences can point to the specific ways God has blessed us. Spend some time reflecting on some of your favorite things, relationships, memories and experiences. Why are those things your favorites? In light of your list, spend time thanking God for the special and particular ways He has blessed you.
The AMI QT Devotionals for January 8-14 are provided by Tina Hsu. Tina, a graduate of Biola University and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.), currently serves as a staff at the Church of Southland, Anaheim, California.
As we are two weeks into the new year, some of us may have already made New Year’s resolutions, while others may still be in the process of making some. In my own reflection, I thought of a few skills and habits I want to build for my own self-improvement, but the Lord also reminded me of resolutions to make for the sake of others—which led me to think about the habit of appreciation.
While serving in China, I was given the daunting—yet privileged—task of preaching on Sundays on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Before going to China, I remember God telling me that His call for me to serve overseas is an invitation to serve Him in my weakness; and if I was willing to dive into this discomfort, then I could go ahead and commit to going. Though I didn’t know specifically what I would dive myself into, His voice gave me the strength to trust that He would be with me in my discomfort.
This past summer, I visited the elementary school in the countryside of Taiwan that my great-grandfather planted. The building is now a cafe restaurant but the owners kept the atmosphere and design to look like a school. I also learned he was a pianist by training, and he planted the school initially to provide music lessons for children. I loved learning about my family history and was so blessed to visit the historic place.
In my early 20’s, I naively believed that God placed me in positions because I had what it took to do it—and I took in people’s praises a little too much. Then, in the process of struggling through jobs, studies, and ministry, I began to swallow the fact that He chose me for certain roles so that He could reveal Himself to me, as well as to reveal more about myself —particularly, my weaknesses. Though learning more about myself isn’t fun sometimes, I’ve gained much freedom through it and have tasted more of God’s grace.
In today’s passage, there is a strong sense of intimacy and directness towards Jacob, and God brings Jacob to a deeper revelation of Himself by saying he is “God Almighty,” a name God used when he revealed Himself to Abraham (17:1), blessing him with the blessing that He first gave to Abraham and Isaac. This is the second time that God appears to Jacob and tells him of his new name, “Israel” (meaning “he struggles with God”) and says he is no longer called “Jacob” (meaning “he deceives”).
Whether it is looking at before and after photos of weight loss or listening to amazing testimonies of growth in people’s faith, we all love to record the positive changes in our lives. By reading Genesis 34-35 back to back, we see a great contrast in Jacob’s behavior. After his daughter was raped, Jacob responded silently: he didn’t go to rescue his daughter or confront Shechem—most likely because of fear. His lack of action opened the way for his sons to take the situation into their own hands through murder. But in the midst of this crisis and having an increasing terror of the Shechemites, Jacob clearly hears the Lord’s voice to go to Bethel and build an altar, “because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother,” So he actively leads his family to prepare for worship by telling them to purify themselves (Gen. 35:2). This time, Jacob responded with action instead of passivity.
Jacob and his family had settled in Shechem after purchasing some land from the sons of Hamor. As they dwelled inside the land of Canaan, they quickly become vulnerable to attack by the surrounding cities because Jacob’s sons deceitfully killed the men of Shechem and plundered their wealth as a revenge towards Shechem, who defiled their sister, Dinah (Gen. 34). Jacob needed to problem-solve and figure out a way of escape for his family.
The AMI QT Devotionals from January 1-7 are provided by Pastor Jason Sato of OTR in Cincinnati. Jason, a graduate of UC San Diego (B.S.) and Westminster Theological Seminary in California (M.Div.), is married to Jessica, and they have three young children: Jonah, Lily, and Ayla (three months old).
Hagiography is a form of biography that exaggerates the greatness of its subject. Ordinary people become saints, and saints become models of perfection. If someone wrote a hagiography about me, I would be 7 feet tall with the courage of Nelson Mandela and the compassion of Mother Theresa (i.e. I would not be myself).
In a famous film, a boy tragically drowns in a lake at a summer camp. His mother finds out his death could have been prevented if the camp counselors had been more responsible. The mother is completely devastated and does everything in her power to prevent the summer camp from re-opening, including…murdering all the new camp counselors?