Today's Passage:  Genesis 46

One of the best parts of the holiday season for me are the times of family reunion.  There are several family members that we don't get to see very often, but we make time around the holidays to catch up and spend time together.  Whether it has been months or longer, it is amazing how quickly the family bond returns...old stories are told, traditions are done together, and new memories are made until next time.

Imagine, then, how Jacob and Joseph felt in this moment.  They had been separated all this time...Jacob believing that Joseph was dead...and now are being reunited in a foreign land.  No wonder Joseph threw his arms around his dad and wept for a long time!  It was not intended that family would be divided, but now it had been restored.  There was so much joy that Jacob expresses that he's ready to die...he's seen the one thing that he longed for more than any other!

These kinds of reunions are pretty amazing, but not nearly as amazing as the family reunion we have to look forward to some day in heaven.  We will finally see our Heavenly Father face to face.  The relationship that was severed by sin but restored through Jesus and His work on the cross will come back to the way it was intended from the beginning of time.  We will be able to run to our Father, throw our arms around him, and I imagine we will weep for joy just like Joseph did! 

As you celebrate family times this season, don't forget that the reason we gather is the baby that would be King and Savior...the one who restores the family relationship...the One who will make a heavenly reunion possible!