Day 20..."In Up and Down Times Keep the Faith"

The story of Joseph has ups and downs. As Joseph was living a blessed life, Potiphar's wife brought him down with a wrongful accusation. This wrongful accusation would then position Joseph in prison and he would endure this life until his next rise upward. Joseph is a life of extreme "ups" and "downs". Joseph's story is incredible in regard to keeping the faith whether up or down. We can learn so much about our "ups" and "downs" in such stories. Psalm 20 speaks of real strength coming from God and not horses and chariots. Horses and chariots are symbols of strength in this day. Healing stories and metaphor are in today's Matthew reading.
A girl is raised from the dead. The wineskins metaphor teaches that change is best with new wine in new wineskins. New wine is too alive for old brittle wineskins. In the same way, the good news of the Kingdom is too alive for old Jewish structures which contained inflexibility. The same is true today. New life in Jesus is more than just holding on to the outdated traditions. One other metaphor today highlights there are plenty of people to reach for the Kingdom..."the harvest is plentiful." The need is for more laborers. I believe the latter would be us!