WordToday

Most of the early Bible stories offer insightful clues on the nature of man and interesting perspectives on God's earliest interventions into the affairs of man. You are likely familiar with the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Noah and his ark floating in the worst flood ever as others perished all about and thereafter the biblical account of the calling of Abraham. But perhaps the most dramatic of them all and one which could comfortably fit into a prime-time T.V. series today is that of Jacob and his rather large family. It culminated in Joseph, his second last-born, rising at a dizzying rate to great political power in a foreign land. However after the story of Joseph things tend to get a little murky for most people. Enter Moses and the miraculous calamities he invokes over the land of Egypt. Many are stamped by the unabashed references to cataclysmic events t...

Return to Egypt, Joseph reveals himself-Genesis 43-45 Recently I over-heard my wife almost shouting at someone we've both known for some time now. She was saying,   "..nimeona hauna bidii ya maisha wala ya Mungu!" (I have observed that you do not try to better yourself in life; neither do you put much effort in seeking God!).   I cringed but then she expertly turned the conversation into a discussion about the 'Four Spiritual Laws' and I relaxed. Later I learnt that the person had cynically questioned how a close relative we stay with could spend all her Easter holidays in a remote prayer-retreat center. Sometimes, God allows circumstances to come down on us really hard in a bid to catch our attention. His concern for our spiritual welfare drives him to allow things in our lives he'd rather not permit if he had other options. It is almost as if he gets exasperated like my wife and has to shout back at our faithless musings...

….is incarcerated and blessed at every turn—Genesis 39 & 42  In an unfortunate turn of events Joseph is sold off as a slave by his siblings to some merchants headed to Egypt. In captivity, he thrives against all odds and is soon made the chief-manager over his master’s house. However as fate would have it he is soon caught up in what would have been a torrid love affair had he not turned down Potiphar’s wife. He is then thrown into prison but even there the bible records that God so blessed the work of his hands that he was given oversight over the other prisoners. Joseph’s mix of troubles and successes in Egypt contain some pointers for us. Like Joseph’s brothers, one is often unaware that the religious words he  strenuously rejected are actually God’s initial move.  Often times such a person will feel strangely violated in his innermost person and will attempt to thrust any thoughts of God as far away as he possibly can. This is because...

Perhaps the most confusing time for any young man is when he has determined to chase a girl he likes. Many times he will not understand the girl. She will look like she likes him and wants him but she will not love him back openly. He will not understand why she regards his best jokes coolly and directs a disproportionate amount of anger at his slightest misstep. He will be baffled with her enthusiastic stream of SMS one day and rattled by her ominous silence the very next day. At one moment he might be dancing in elation and the next he could very well be gnashing his teeth in frustration. And yet he will not be able to resist her mysterious pull on him. He will go back again and again to be knocked over the head and nurse his injuries alone. But sometimes it is good to be a fool and being the fool he has become, he will quietly determine to push on. The journey to one becoming a Christian is very much like the dating game.   And by Christian I don’t mean one who a...

In reading through the bible today I contemplated Leviticus 10. The Israelites were done with worshipping the golden calf in exodus 32. It had been a very tense moment when the masses openly challenged the authority of Moses and of God over their lives. Now was another tense moment. Aaron's sons had gone against newly instituted worship rituals and God had killed them on the spot. A very unfortunate event coming so soon after their ordination. However it is Leviticus 10:10 that caught my attention; "You must distinguish between the holy and the common..." Holy means, set aside for God. I ask myself; what does this mean for me? For some the word holy evokes images of the Pope arrayed in gloriously white vestments. Personally I think holiness is much more mundane than we think. Let me explain. Leviticus 10:10 took my mind back to the commitment I made some time in 2013 to avoid watching TV especially local news. My motivation then, was to get away from the po...

Jacob’s story reads like one of those teary soap-operas that keep some glued to televisions year in year out. Of the Bible’s godly men, he stands out as one of the most notorious Bible characters. The story of his life straddles the first book of the bible like a colossus, gobbling up 15 whole chapters (Genesis 25-49). God’s decision to give this maverick acres of bible-space should tell you something about God’s view of the Christian’s life. Here is a running (or rambling J ) commentary of his biography. See if you can glean some parallels with your own journey in the faith. While still in the womb he jostles (I think it’s more like wrestles) with his twin brother causing his mother great discomfort. As she cries out in pain a prophecy is made that sets the stage for the tumultuous life he would lead. " ..the older (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob)…." Gen.25:23 However Jacob was not going to patiently wait for the prediction to come. As their mother labored t...

For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." Gen.18:19 My wife asked me the other day why God picked Abraham out of all the men of his day to be the one he would call to start off the nation of Israel and eventually bless the entire world through Jesus Christ. I didn't have a very good answer but now I do know something else. God chose Abraham so that he could teach his family the ways of the LORD. Thus Abraham's primary role was to bring about a godly offspring even in the midst of a people that worshipped multiple gods and cared little for the One True God. Over the years God has not changed His strategy for ensuring a righteous remnant can still be found. You and me as parents are his means of ensuring this. Like Abraham He has charged us with the responsibility of bringing forth...