The Judahs In Our Lives ...

This afternoon at church, the pastor spoke on the Judahs in our lives & it really hit home for me (we're studying the Bad Boys of the Bible).  If you don't know the story of Judah, you should read it in the book of Genesis.  He sold his brother, Joseph, into slavery, he had sex with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who was disguised as a prostitute & then became pregnant with twins .. Judah should have had the worst of the worst things happen to him, but they didn't ... Why ?  Well, I will explain to you in a moment.

Amazingly, Judah turned his life around & he changed his life ! Why ? Because of GRACE !!! Joseph showed him grace, even though Judah had sold him into slavery.  He forgave him & took the family back into his good graces.  Tamar could have exposed Judah for his sins, but instead showed him grace by quietly letting him know he was the one who had gotten her pregnant ... Jacob's (Judah's father's) blessing of Judah, in Genesis 49:8-12, includes a passage that is traditionally understood by Christians to mean that Judah's descendants would rule over the land of Israel, culminating with Jesus.  And Judah was GRATEFUL for all of this grace shown to him !! He appreciated it & learned from it !!

So, what exactly did Judah ever do to deserve all this grace ? Absolutely nothing ! He didn't have to.  Jesus died for all of us & we all deserve God's grace & blessing upon our life. We all have Judah's in our lives.  We know people who may not be living the best life in our eyes or are the meanest, most hateful person to ever walk the Earth yet things always seem to go right for them.  If we just change the way we look at each & every person as deserving of God's grace & love, just as we are, and show grace to each & every person we come into contact with, just imagine how the world would begin to change !! 

This message really made me think about my life & what I can do differently and how I can treat people differently in the future.  I hope maybe some of you will get at least a little something out of it as well.