“From The Past to The
Present and Future”
A Sermon Series on the
Life of Joseph
Do you remember how you picked
your children’s names? Grandparents’ names? Someone special in your life? Biblical names? An experience with God?
Joseph got married and had two
children and gave each of them a special name.
Each name had an important message to Joseph and to us today.
The two names were Manasseh and
Ephraim.
“Before the years of famine came,
two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh
and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The second son he named Ephraim and
said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my
suffering." (50-52)
The first son is
Manasseh: “God made me forget.”
20 years of injustice, 20 years
of misconduct which God helped him forget.
Joseph is declaring that his old life is over. He does not look back anymore. He is like a 100-meter sprinter. He looks towards the target and does not look
back. It does not mean he forgot his
family. It does not mean he gave up from
his God. It does not mean he
“excommunicated” his brothers for his memory.
On the contrary, he does not live in the “pains” of the past. He refuses to say, “Oh how awful was my past;
and I am victim of my past.”
He lives today and enjoys the moment that God gave him.
Do you know so many of us live in
the past? Either we recall the good
memories and we want those days to come back, or we keep holding on to the bad
memories and we stay there without looking forward to a new chapter in our
life.
When Moses saw the burning
bush and had an encounter with God, he wanted to know the name of God. And God said:
“I AM who I AM.” God is
saying I was yesterday and I am now and will be tomorrow. But do not forget to experience me now. I AM.
Many of us are caught up in the
past or worrying about the future. And by doing so we do not experience today.
We
read in Isaiah 43:18, 19a "Forget
the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new
thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
When I was in Ainjar, I tried to
help some families who kept held grudges against people. They remembered that in the past certain
families hurt them, and the decided not to forget that and pass it to the next
generation. Because of that pain, many
of them did not enjoy the present. Many
of them were bitter and could not see any new possibilities in human
relationships. The sad experiences of
their past hindered them from living today.
They needed Jesus. They needed healing. They needed the “delete” button.
"Behold,
I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will
not be remembered,
nor
will they come to mind.
18But
be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create
and
its people a joy. (Isaiah 65:17, 18)
Do you have a “Manasseh” in your
life?
We will continue in English.