Joseph:

The coat of many colors

Beloved by his father, hated by his brothers

Naive, telling them one day they will bow down to him.

Rueben tries to save him, Judah sells him and Jacob mourns him.

What a life Joseph had

Jesus sends us to prepare the way for Him. He prepares the hearts and minds of men, for Him, if we will go.

He does it all if we will but hear and Go.

Our God is an amazing God.

I find the concept that Abraham answered the call and Noah answered the call of God a bit weird. We are use to all being called to repentance, but in the Old Testament frew actually heeded that call.

Abraham did, his son Isaac did and his grandson Jacob did. Yet they each had to decide for themselves. Just as we do today.

Jacob had material possessions, love, children land, all he could want and still he was seeking a blessing.

When Jacob finally accepted God as his God then he was fulfilled.

Family should not work for "family" Laban and Jacob did not deal well with the other.

Yet God blessed Laban because of Jacob and Laban knew it.

So often we keep God contained in the church, we do not take Him home. Church, while very important, is not the focal point. We have not taught personal relationships with Jesus, with the Father, to our kids. We have failed and because it is not real to us, it is not real to them

Jacob works for 7 years to get Rachel to wife but is deceived. He gets Leah. He works another 7 years and finally gets Rachel.

But never underestimate 2 competitive jealous sisters and the ends they will go to to out do the other. Eventually Jacob is traded off between them, with no sign of shame or chagrin.

Yet, Jacob was faithful and honest in his work dealings and in his service to God and he is blessed for it.

Never forget he was the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant yet he had to agree to serve the Lord God, he had to be faithful, he could not rest on Abraham's name.

All of us must make our own decision to serve Christ, to call on His name. No one else can do it for you, no one else's work can be added to your account. You must know Him and have a personal relationship with Him.

Jacob is on the run from his brother. We shall in this episode see a ladder, a stone rolled away and true love at first sight.

We all kniow the aaccount of the woman at the well. Yet, in reading it Jesus Himself teaches us how to witness and testify.

The woman then takes that lesson into her village and an awakening happens.

Experiential, relatable witnessing of the Goodness of God. That is what witnessing, personal evangelism, is.

A weird story, a family affair and a reputation earned, whether justly or not is up to you to decide.