now joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. he said to them, “hear this dream that i have dreamed: behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. and behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” his brothers said to him, “are you indeed to reign over us? or are you indeed to rule over us?” so they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “behold, i have dreamed another dream. behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” but when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “what is this dream that you have dreamed? shall i and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” and his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. – [genesis 37:5-11]
do a simple google search and you will find rebellion everywhere: citizens who consider themselves to be independent from governmental regulations, people who scream at one another about polarizing topics, writers stating that the united states is only going to become more divided. why?
because just like joseph’s family, we loathe authority. we don’t want to be ruled, and we certainly don’t want to be reigned.
we find ourselves shocked at how hard it is to obey our king. no, not the government… King Jesus. but is our struggle really a surprise?
we just spent many weeks in galatians talking about how easy it is to obey our flesh, but how rewarding it is to abide in the Holy Spirit.
we are invited to lay down our sheaves before King Jesus today and simply abide in him. will you bow down to Jesus today?
will you lay down your plans, your work, and your desires at his feet?
will you allow him to be the center of your universe, even when that may involve awkward steps of obedience?
he certainly deserves our sacrifice:
“who, though he (Christ) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [philippians 2:6-11]
Christ obeyed God, even though he was equal with God. he wanted God to reign over him, even when it involved sacrificing his life so we could walk humbly with God. let us walk in the freedom of this surrender, brothers and sisters!
~ jm