Genesis 37:11 KJV
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
I am reminded of the different reactions we may have toward the Word of God.
Joseph's brothers “envied him.....”They were angry at him
They displayed hatred toward him
They ended up attacking him
There are those; both Christian and non-Christian, whose response to the Word of the Lord or to what God is doing in their lives is less than positive.
For some, it might be a rejection of the Word of God.
Others might simply attempt to ignore the Word of God
Still, others take a more aggressive stance against the Word of God.
Joseph's father, on the other hand, "...observed the saying."
The word "observed" means to hedge about it, to guard it, to keep it, or to attend to it. It might be kin to his meditating upon it.
At first Jacob rebuked his son for telling the dream and for implying that his mother and father would bow before him. But then Jacob held on to what his son had said. Rather than rejecting it or even ignoring it, he attended to it. He dwelt upon it and how it might be someday fulfilled.
God's word is not always pleasant to us at first. There are truths in the Bible that are contrary to our sin nature. But if we will observe them; meditate upon them and their appropriate place in our lives, it will become apparent to us that God has only our good intended in it.
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
I am reminded of the different reactions we may have toward the Word of God.
Joseph's brothers “envied him.....”They were angry at him
They displayed hatred toward him
They ended up attacking him
There are those; both Christian and non-Christian, whose response to the Word of the Lord or to what God is doing in their lives is less than positive.
For some, it might be a rejection of the Word of God.
Others might simply attempt to ignore the Word of God
Still, others take a more aggressive stance against the Word of God.
Joseph's father, on the other hand, "...observed the saying."
The word "observed" means to hedge about it, to guard it, to keep it, or to attend to it. It might be kin to his meditating upon it.
At first Jacob rebuked his son for telling the dream and for implying that his mother and father would bow before him. But then Jacob held on to what his son had said. Rather than rejecting it or even ignoring it, he attended to it. He dwelt upon it and how it might be someday fulfilled.
God's word is not always pleasant to us at first. There are truths in the Bible that are contrary to our sin nature. But if we will observe them; meditate upon them and their appropriate place in our lives, it will become apparent to us that God has only our good intended in it.
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