By Mike Caton

Genesis 48:1-2 – Sometime later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

Sometime later, Jacob took ill. There are many things that might come to mind with this; what is wrong with him, how much times has passed, has he not been sick before, how bad is he, and there are certainly others. At any rate, some time has passed since Jacob has made his final arrangements with Joseph. Over the weekend, this kept bouncing through my mind. What kind of final arrangements do we need to make? We most often think about calling the funeral director and deciding about out funeral; casket, vault, service, and so forth. But if those are all the final arrangements we make, we are stopping too short. We need to think about our eternal arrangements. And simply put, we need to live this life in such a way we will be prepared for the next life.

Jacob knows his life is getting shorter by the day. It seems like there is one thing he still wants to do before he dies. This is the beginning of his calling his sons in and blessing them. Again, this is something that we don’t often think about today, giving our children, or really anyone else, a blessing. And it is clear these blessings are more than the wishful thinking of a dying man, God himself seems to have given Jacob a glimpse of his sons’ futures. Maybe we ought to think more about living our lives in such a way that we will be blessings to those who are around us, those who come behind us. At this stage, Jacob’s good years are behind him. But he still wants to see his children and grandchildren, he still wants to see the family he loves.

Joseph and his two boys come to see the patriarch. Manasseh and Ephraim have been born to Joseph in Egypt. Jacob has lived in seventeen years, that seems like a good long time to see your grandchildren, but it is not near as long as he lived with the others. Jacob never thought he’d see Joseph again, much less his children. So he rallied and sat upon the bed. Big things will be said on this visit, but let’s not miss this picture. An aging and near death father and grandfather being visited by his son and grandsons. That is a beautiful picture. And sadly, it is one that is not repeated often enough. We need to love, to enjoy, to visit, to spend time with those we love while we have the chance. Yes, we are all busy, but there is coming a day when those folks will be gone. And we need to make the most of each and every opportunity, we are not promised another day.

Father, thank you for family. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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MORE FROM MIKE CATON:

Weekly devotion – Genesis 47:20-22