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Day 13 or January the 13th. Inside first, then

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outside next. Our thought today is from Genesis

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chapter 34 verse 15. We will enter into an agreement

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with you on one condition only, that you become

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like us by circumcising all your males. First,

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the big picture surrounding this verse. Dinah,

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the only daughter of Jacob that we know by name,

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is raped by a Hivite prince called Shechem, and

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her brothers wreak havoc on his family. The thought

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that these uncircumcised heathen could ever be

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part of their good kosher family fills them with

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disgust and rage as they take their drastic revenge.

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Meanwhile, Jacob is renamed Israel to reflect

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his personality more accurately as a wrestler

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with God. On the way to Bethlehem, Jacob's favourite

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wife gives birth to a second son, Benjamin, and

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sadly dies after the birth. She is buried on

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the outskirts of Bethlehem, and there is still

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a commemorative memorial in her honour on the

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road into Bethlehem today. Esau and Jacob have

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now been reconciled, but their descendants, the

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Edomites and the Israelites, never forgive each

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other. Now our action step for today. The family

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of Shechem were told they could only be acceptable

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if they were circumcised. This was a physical

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sign of a covenant about which they were probably

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totally ignorant. Sometimes we make similar mistakes

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by urging friends to be baptized or confirmed

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or become church members before the transaction

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that these rites proclaim has taken place in

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the heart of an individual. I remember being

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told that it was about time I took a particular

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step in my local church now that I was 16. It

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was years later that I realized my action actually

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had nothing to do with age but was directly

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linked to heart change. We need constantly to

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remind ourselves that God looks on the inside

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and not on the outside. We may be fooling others

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by doing the right thing, but please be sure

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that you are believing the right thing and doing

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what God wants. Aim to please Him, not the crowds

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around you.