Sunday Preview – Forgiveness
Last week I started a 2-part series on Forgiveness. This week we continue the discussion by talking about how vital it is for us to reach out and reconcile with people we have had issues with. We’ll find our Biblical example in Genesis 33:1-11. Jacob and Esau had beef their entire lives. That beef was about to escalate to a fight to the death until this passage:
1 Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. 2 He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4 Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down. 7 Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down. 8 And he said, “What do you mean by all this company which I have met?” And he said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.” 10 Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. 11 “Please take my agift which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” Thus he urged him and he took it.
Take some time to read and meditate on this text between now and Sunday. Also glance over Chapter 32, where Jacob has a life-changing encounter with God. On the heels of that encounter with God, Jacob reconciles a life-long beef with his brother Esau. Take a look at what happens to make this reconciliation possible, healthy, and lasting. We’ll break it down more Sunday at The Heights. See you there!