Men of Faith Worship God

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

MEN OF FAITH WORSHIP GOD

Heb 11:21

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

NIV

This author recounts just one sentence of what was one of the most inspirational moments in the life of Jacob. When he was very old, near the last days of his life, laying on his couch, although we call it a bed, he rallied his strength to bless the sons of Joseph as well as his own sons. We could take a few points from the account in Genesis; however, one sticks out that brings it close to home for us. Of course, we are not in our last days in the way Jacob was, even if we are older in years than we have ever been, with our grey hair, wrinkled face, slightly weaker body, and more ailments and infirmities than we never had in our younger years, we have not yet succumbed to our death bed. In his blessings of Manasseh and Ephraim, Jacob makes this statement about God who his fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been his shepherd all the days of his life, and the angel who delivered him from all harm. We should note this translation of the Hebrew word Mittah, which has a direct meaning of a bed, or couch, even used as a coffin. Much has been made about the staff as meaning the scepter, the staff of authority. But the Hebrew word does not support that meaning. Nevertheless, we know that Jacob was the family Patriarch and his authority over the family was never questioned. Yet, even in his last moments, he rallied himself and worshipped God who has been his shepherd all the days of his life. whether he leaned on his staff or the head of his bed it does not matter, for he continued to worship all the days of his life. This is the story we take hold of. There will never be a day that we will fail to worship God who has been our Great Shepherd all the days of our lives. Even if we did not come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ until some years after our birth, God has never failed in being our Shepherd, guiding our lives to the place where we would meet Jesus and become one of the sons of God. Our family Patriarch is unlike the patriarchs of old, for they died, and He lives forever, and He always pronounces a blessing on us. He will always be our Shepherd, leading and protecting us from all harm. Of course, our definition of harm might be different than his. We might think harm to our body, but God thinks harm to our soul. We pray that he will deliver us from evil, and that is in the spirit world, the evil one, who would like to destroy our souls. Our Great Shepherd will not allow that to happen, so we can be at rest from evil, and spend all the days of our lives, even to our last breath, worshipping our God. Men of faith worship God.