Live Instead of Die

Live Instead of Die

Genesis 42:1 – Eventually, Jacob observed that there was grain in Egypt, so he asked his sons, “Why do you keep on staring at one another? 2 – Pay attention now! I’ve heard that there is grain in Egypt, so go down there and buy some grain for us, so we can live, instead of dying.”

It seemed like an obvious plan. Nothing was growing due to the famine. What was in storage was run out. How do you feed a large family including all the servants? You have to go to where the food is. In this case Jacob learned that food was in Egypt.

Where do we find food today? We have all sorts of grocery store choices. But what about spiritual food? Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 when He responded to the devil who was tempting Him to turn stones into bread during a time when He was really hungry. Jesus said “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Let us live instead of die. Let us choose today to let the words of God give us wisdom, courage, strength, correction, instruction, and hope. Joseph’s brothers would soon encounter their long lost brother and bow down to him according to a dream they had long since forgotten – but they would not recognize him at first.

One day when we see Jesus face to face – we will bow down and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10,11). Let us take the time know Jesus, the person to whom we will give worship, so that we are not taken by surprise when He appears coming in the clouds of heaven.

Philippians 3:8 says: More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ,…

verse 10 – My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, 11 – and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Let us get to know Jesus a little more today. Let us live instead of die.