Today's reading: Genesis 43, 44, 45; Psalm 15, 45, 75, 105, 135; Proverbs 15
Genesis 45:5,27; "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life." ... "And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:" (revived - to live).
As I have told you I love the account of Joseph. I don't know; maybe, I feel like I too have been thrown into a pit and then sold off to some travelers and ultimately into slavery. This is not how God wants you and I to live our lives.
Have you ever thought that you might be on God's wanted poster? Remember in the old west they would post a wanted poster that would have the suspects name and sometimes a picture, to tell all who would see that this particular individual is wanted by the sheriff. Sometimes bounty hunters were employed to chase after someone that was bad enough, to help catch them. Often, if the crime was bad enough, the suspect would be wanted dead or alive. You might think it would take a pretty bad dude or dudette to be wanted dead or alive. What would a person have to do? Murder, bank robbery or what?
Think about this for a moment. You and I have a charge against us. It is called sin. We are guilty of the sin of Adam and this is a sin against God. We who are guilty of such have the penalty of death riding on our head.
We are being pursued by a ruthless bounty hunter: the devil. He seeks only to find us for himself and keep us. You see he would love nothing more than to keep us from the High Sheriff of our soul; the Lord Jesus Christ. If the devil can keep us distracted from the Sheriff then he can lead us to hell at our death date. This is sad and can be avoided.
On the other hand we are also being pursued by the High Sheriff of Heaven. Praise God! He pursues not with the hounds of hell but with His love written in crimson red on a document of forgiveness. You see; if you stand before the Judge of all ages and the High Sheriff of Heaven presents a heavenly pardon on your behalf, then you walk out free. All you have to do is place your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation. It is that simple. Then He wants us to live for Him.
As we live for Him we need to realize that we are dead to sin and do not have to live in it any longer. How wonderful! Then when we are dead to sin we need to live our lives in a state of revival (that is a whole different day's writing).
"Wanted: Dead and Revived"! Are you guilty?
