"Here I am"

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

"HERE I AM"

Gen 46:1-7

46:1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob! “Here I am," he replied. 3 "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." 5 Then Jacob left Beersheba, and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. 6 They also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt. 7 He took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters — all his offspring.

NIV

Off they went to the land of Egypt with all Jacob’s offspring and possessions. It would be a great and wonderful thing if we could take all our offspring with us to the land of God, the kingdom of heaven, but that is not to be, for our culture has no resemblance to how they lived as one family or tribe all in the same basic area. Nevertheless, they were under the divine protection and direction of God Almighty. God even spoke to Jacob, calling him by name to ensure he did the right thing. Here’s the truth we need to glean from this narrative; we are under divine protection and direction and God even speaks to us. The first and foremost that we are protected from is death. Sure, this body is going to eventually succumb to its death, but we are not our bodies, it is simply a vessel we inhabit for a short time. We are a spirit, as Jesus made sure Nicodemus understood. What is born of water is water, our natural human birth, but what is born of the Spirit is spirit, and it was our spirit who was already dead, because of sin, and needed to be reborn from above. If a person is not born again, they are still just walking dead. Being reborn is our protection from death, just as Jesus said that even though we die, that is our bodies die, we, our spirit, will live. We are also under divine protection from the second death, whatever that may be. However, we are also under divine protection from the attacks of Satan. He cannot harm us, for God’s armor shields us from those flaming arrows. Of course, we do need to get dressed in His armor, as we are told to put on the full armor of God. We are also under the divine direction of God. He lights the path; He directs our footsteps. However, we do need to walk within that path and follow that light. That is up to us as we can try to go our own way, even though we know it is the wrong way. Still, God is guiding us along the way to the land of promise, the kingdom of heaven. Yet, he also directs our lives in the here and now, showing us either visions or on occasion, when we need it, speaks into our hearts and sometimes into our ears. When Jacob heard the voice of God, his response was, “Here I am”. This should always be our response to all the protection and direction of our Lord God, “Here I am”.