Year 4, Day 43: Genesis 44

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Learning Circle

• Learning Circle: The Learning Circle is a tool we use to hear from God.  It focuses to look at six stages of listening: observe, reflect, discuss, plan, account, and act.  Ultimately it helps us look at the question: What is God saying to me and what am I going to do about it?

The first half of the learning circle is devoted to repentance.  We must repent before we believe.  We must see our brokenness before we can appreciate healing.  We need to observe our behavior, reflect on how our behavior affects our life, discuss our behavior with others, and then come to a place where we can see what God desires of us.

Actually, we see this behavior in Judah today.  So far in Genesis we’ve seen Judah abandon God’s ways.  He’s married foreign women.  He’s sold his brother into slavery.  But when Benjamin’s life is in jeopardy, Judah hits rock bottom.  He knows that he cannot go back.  Returning to Israel without Benjamin would mean that he would have been responsible for the tragic end of both of Rachel’s sons.

Judah repents.  He observes what he has done in his life.  He reflects how his choices have negatively impacted himself and his family.  He discusses this with Joseph and completely repents.  He comes to a place in his life where instead of pursuing his own agenda he now is coming to terms with who God wants him to be.  Judah repents.

Tomorrow we’ll get to hear about the plan that comes out of Judah’s confession.  We’ll also get a chance to look at Joseph’s character.  But it all starts right here with Judah’s repentance.  It all starts because Judah is finally able to be honest with his life, reflect upon his life, and confess that he could do better at being a godly man.

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