Scripture Reading: Genesis 30:37-40
“And Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar, and of the almond and of the plane-tree; and peeled white streaks in them, making the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had peeled over against the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink; and they conceived when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived at the sight of the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs — he also set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark in the flock of Laban — and put his own droves apart, and put them not unto Labans’ flock.” (Genesis 30:3740)
Even though Jacob started out with nothing it wasn’t long before his ewes and nanny goats were giving birth to streaked and speckled and spotted sheep and goats. God had given Jacob the wisdom how to bring this about. He peeled off the bark of the boughs of trees in strips, and made a screen of them and stood it up by the watering troughs where the animals came to drink at the close of the day. It was there that they conceived, and because their eyes were always looking at this screen of streaked rods the image of what the animals were gazing at was imprinted upon the sheep and goats which they were conceiving.
It is important that we are careful about what we look upon and admire. We will conceive the very same thing that we have imaged in our mind.
That is why God wants us to put His Word on the walls of our houses. God said to Moses, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).
When we read the Word of God it is imparted into our spirits and becomes a part of our lives.
Do not spend long hours in front of the television or the video screen, feeding your soul with the garbage of the world. Leave the slop for the pigs! Feast on the manna.
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:7-8).
If you meditate on good things and think lovely thoughts it will impart the image of Jesus into your spirit. You will become like Him in beauty and in character.
You become what you worship, so worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
In the Beginning by Gwen Shaw
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