As the book of Genesis draws to a conclusion, Joseph and his family are lovingly reunited on Egyptian soil. Famine draws the sons of Jacob to Egypt and, with a little strategic planning on Joseph’s part, the entire seventy-member family of Israel migrates south to see the long lost son. For the next seventeen years, Jacob lives with his family in Egypt, residing in the lush, fertile land of Goshen. As Gen. 47:27 notes, “They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.” Following Jacob’s death, the Israelites continue to dwell in Goshen, enjoying the fruits of a foreign land. Four centuries later, God would use Moses to lead Jacob’s children out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt back to the land once promised them.

What is your Goshen? In what areas of your life have you forgotten your identity? Have we lost sight of the fact that this land isn’t the place we should settle? Too often, we find ourselves in Israel’s shoes (or sandals), forsaking the land of promise for the land of plenty. We believe we’re residents of this world, forgetting that we’re citizens of the next. And in so doing, we pitch our tents in Goshen. Greed, lust, pride, anger, secret sin…whatever our Goshen may be, God calls us to exodus. Let us leave behind that which obstructs us from focusing on the true, everlasting promise of God. One of the great comforts in Christ is the promise of eternity. As tempting as the fruit of Goshen may be, they cannot begin to compare with the glory of an unending relationship with God. May we hear the sweet voice of our God, calling us out of the land of plenty and into the land of promise.