Christian Devotional – January 18, 2016

Read Genesis chapter 34

VERSE:

Genesis 34:23–Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So, let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.

TRUTH:

This entire chapter deals with lust. Shechem’s lust for Dinah, Hamor’s lust for possessions, and Simeon and Levi’s lust for vengeance. While Shechem’s mind is solely fixed on the beautiful Dinah and doing whatever he needs to in order to get permission to have her legally, his father has been busy eyeing all the animals and possessions of this newcomer Jacob. Instead of just grabbing their swords and heading into battle against them. Hamor proposes a more subtle way to amass all their wealth. He’ll just intermingle with them and eventually he’ll be able to conduct business with them and swindle them out of their things. This is often how sin presents itself to us. It doesn’t start out trying to conquer us directly. Instead sin starts out by offering to become our friend. It offers to just be with us and help us out in difficult situations. Then, before long, we become reliant on the sin and it has taken over in our lives. We must recognize that making deals with sin is wrong and that we must avoid it at all costs.

RESPONSE:

Father, I know that sin is waiting for a moment to pounce; it wants to reel me in and make me think it’s just trying to get along, when in fact, it wants to take over. Keep me focused on You and You only so that the lusts of this world don’t get the better of me and I fall prey to their plans for me.