The Famine was Severe

‘He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. ‘ Genesis 41:48-49

Spending time in nature

In our story today, Joseph had the task of gathering enough gran for Egypt to last seven years of famine. Today’s activity will help store up grain in our own lives. In today’s game, you’ll need several balls (Tennis balls, Ping Pong Balls, Golf Balls, Ball Pit balls) that can be grabbed easily by everyone in the family. If you can, try to get a dozen balls for each family member; if not, just get as many balls as you can. Put all the balls in a basket. You can either have someone read the below verses or write them on the balls and have the grabber look them up. Have the entire family form a large circle around the basket, leaving at least twelve feet between them and the balls. Each verse will have an action word in it; the player will have to perform the action, once they have, they grab a ball. Every few minutes, the caller will call out another verse. If the scriptures are on the balls, the players will have to look them up and do the “action” before they run and grab another ball. The goal is to get as many balls as possible and hide the verses away in your heart. The “clean-up” or bonus round can have memory verses you have been working on as a family or as individuals. With each verse you recite, you can bring a ball back. If someone ended up with more balls than the next person, they get to share more scriptures. These verses and thousands of others hidden away in your heart gives you a wave of peace here on Earth that can not be matched by any worldly thing.

Tip

Knowing scripture helps us regain peace, a peace the world can not offer (John 14:27). He, Himself, is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). The God of 1 Corinthians 13 wants to put a new heart in us (Ezekiel 11:19). Memorizing scripture helps to fill this new heart.

Do Something Creative

For today’s craft, create a binder where you can keep all your favorite bible verses. With an Index Card Binder, decorate the cover how you would like, use thick packing tape across the artwork to keep it safe. Once the binder is decorated, write a few of your favorite bible verses on the index cards. Decorate the cards as you wich. Older children and adults can write down what the memory verse means in their life on the back. Continue to add to the binder as you come across new favorite memory verses. The Peaceful Mom recommended using Alphabet Index Dividers and categorizing the scriptures. The index cards you would turn to when you were angry would go under A. Creating a binder for your memory/favorite verses is an easy way to see how full of grain your storehouse is getting. I hope it gets so full that you will have to stop keeping records because it is beyond measure.

What you will need:

• Index card binder
• Index cards to fit binder
• Hole punch
• Stickers or artwork for cover
• Clear Packing Tape to keep cover art work safe and in tack
• (Optional) Dividers to fit binder

Family worship idea

For family worship, you’ll read Genesis chapter 41-42. The chapters talk about how Joseph went from being a prisoner to the second highest in the kingdom, and his first dream of the wheat bowing came true. Before you read the story, give everyone a ball of playdough and instruct them to mold the playdough into a replica of a storehouse/barn/granary to hold all the wheat gathered in Egypt. Be as creative as possible. Once you are done, there are several things you can talk about. The whole day has been dedicated to storing up the bread of life in our hearts. You can also talk about how Joseph gave the glory to God when he came before Pharoah. One point I will dwell on is, Joseph had his brother’s future in his hands. He could have easily denied them grain and kept them in prison for as long as he wanted. He wept when he knew the guilt they still carried after all these years. Joseph gave them the grain they needed to live. God freely gives us our daily bread, a life-giving bread. He freely gave us favor in the bread of life (Ephesians 1:6). Joseph did not take payment for the grain; he gave it freely. In this life, there is nothing we can actively do to buy or payback God. Our only win is to submit our lives to Him, to accept what He has freely given.

Personal thoughts

I think the idea of being able to buy salvation from God has been on my mind. God is never changing. He is the beginning and the end, The Alpha and the Omega. In Isaiah, The Father is petitioning us to come, come without money, come if you are thirsty, to just come (Isaiah 55:1, Again in Revelation 22:17). Jesus at the well told the woman she only had to ask for the gift, and He would give her living water (John 4:10-14). We are told repeatedly, we only have to ask; it will be given to us (Matthew 21:12 7:7, John 15:7, 1 John 3:22, Luke 11:9, 1 John 5:14-15, and so on). We were sold for nothing, and we will be redeemed without money (Isaiah 52:3). We began with God as He knitted us together (Psalm 139:13, Job 10:11, Colossians 2:2). He knows my end (Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 193:16, Isaiah 46:10) and has paved the way for me to join Him in Heaven (John 14:6, John 3:16-17, Romans 8:32). What must I do to have eternal life (Matthew 19:16-26)? Keep the commandments. When Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler, He mentioned the second half of the law (except coveting). This half reminds us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus then asked the youth to join Him. This is His ask for us today. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9. “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” Titus 3:5-6. “‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.'” This too is a joy for me. God has literally done everything for me, all I have to do is believe in Him. With this belief comes a new heart, a heart that can love my neighbor, a heart that yearns for and misses God, a heart that is a safe place for the Holy Spirit to dwell. I can’t buy my salvation, because I have been bought. I can’t earn my salvation, because my works might cause me to boast. I can only love my God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself, and both of these are fore filled when I believe in Him.

Hiding His word in your ❤

‘“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ‘

Jeremiah 31:33

Additional Resources:

• TheGrainGame.org
• KidsSundaySchool.com