January 18

Today's Reading

Genesis. We begin today with a chapter about sibling rivalry between Joseph and his brothers. This, by the way, is the opening of my favorite story in all the Bible. We will be reading it for the next several days. Where do you think Jacob learned how to play favorites with his children?

Before we complete Joseph's story, we take a side journey. It's an important detour. Why? Jacob/Israel had 12 sons and only one of them would be the direct ancestor of Jesus Christ. That son was Judah. Jesus lineage came through Judah and Tamar, and you read about it in this mysterious story today.

You will notice in Matthew that the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders is heating up. Why do you think they despised him so much?

We have a choice to either worship God or the gods of this world, as our Psalm makes clear today. Let's ask God to show us the ways our hearts turn away from Him.

Our entire lives are built on the foundation of how we love God and how we treat others. Proverbs gives some great instructions.

So far, our year has been full of your insight and questions. What's on your mind today?