kculver. journeywithjesus

How I love the world, but not be worldly? … Genesis 49:22 defines what it means to be in the world, but not of the world. It’s a verse… where… Jacob prays for his sons, and he says something interesting about Joseph—Joseph the godly one, the one who is most like Christ, one of the greatest examples of Christ-likeness in the Old Testament. It says, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; its branches run over a wall.” Now notice, there is a well of water. There is a tree planted by the well. The tree is pulling its life from that well. There is a wall that separates. There is a wall that separates the tree and the well from the rest of the world. The wall is a separation. But notice, as the tree grows, from the life-giving force of the well, the boughs do something interesting—they go up and… over the wall. And it is then that the people on the other side of the wall can pick the fruit from the branches and discover its life, without destroying the tree. And I believe that that is a picture of the Christian life. There is separation. There is something different about the way that we live. There is something different about the way that we think. There is someone different that we love. And through our life in Christ, we begin to produce fruit; and that fruit should be feeding those whom we come in contact with. But there is separation. “Be holy, as I am holy,” says the Lord. And there must be a change in the way that we think and process reality. And we have been given the Holy Spirit; there is no excuse for us not to be living differently.