MEMORISE: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.” – Hosea 8:7 (KJV)
READ: Genesis 27:18-23, Genesis 37:26-35 (KJV)
Genesis 27:18-23:
18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.
21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.
Genesis 37:26-35:
26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.
33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Exodus 38-40
MESSAGE:
The law of harvest states that you will reap much more than whatever you sow. This is why you must be careful of the kind of seeds you sow, because when harvest comes, it is always much more than the seed.
In our Bible readings for today, we see Jacob sowing a seed in the first passage and then reaping the harvest in the second. In the first passage, he deceived his father in order to get the blessing and so his children also deceived him that Joseph their brother was dead.
Genesis 37:35 says:
“And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.”
Many a time, the harvest of your seeds comes when you are too old to do anything about it. Everything you do now is a seed and the harvest will come back to you when you may not have as much energy as you do now.
I thank God for some of the seeds I sowed as a young man because I am now reaping the harvests.
In 1961, as a 19 year-old, I gave some money to a poor, sick old man – a neighbour, so he could get some medicine. The man said to me that someday, I would be travelling abroad as often as people go the market. I laughed at that prophecy because in my village in those days, if anyone was returning from a trip abroad, the entire village would not go to the farm that day.
The hunters would come out and shoot their guns in celebration of the person and everyone would be rejoicing. At that time, there were only 2 people who had gone abroad in my village, and they studied there for a number of years. Now this man was saying that I would be going often. It appeared funny, but I had sown the seed. Today, by God’s grace, that prophecy has been fulfilled.
Beloved, pay attention to every opportunity you have to sow a good seed. On the other hand, always check your actions to be sure that you are not sowing bad seeds that you will regret when the harvest comes.
KEY POINT: Be very intentional about the seeds you sow today because they will come back in multiple folds tomorrow.
Open Heavens 2023 Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries.
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