Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Surrender (Genesis 48)

This is the first part of our consideration of Jacob blessing his grandsons.  The family of God has not performed so well in terms of morality.  There are a lot of discrepancies within this family in terms of their calling before the Lord.  The rivalry between Cain and Abel is repeated, there is outright immorality, the Lord strikes dead some of the covenant children because of their wickedness, and Jacob fails to consistently lead the family in a Godly direction.  What do we do with this?  What are God’s people beginning to realize about the Lord’s Sabbath?

Live a Pure Beloved Children (Ephesians 5:2; LD 41)

On the one hand we might feel good about ourselves because we have never had an affair.  We might think that we are better than the ones who have committed such a sin.  On the other hand we might feel horrible about ourselves because we have had an affair.  How do we humble ourselves in the Lord?  How do we approach the Lord appropriately even as struggling sinners?  Why would we humbly desire to offer ourselves to the Lord? How do we move beyond our struggle in sin to stay focused on the proper goal?