Welcome to this Daily PBJ devotional. Read Genesis 33, Esther 9 and 10, and Matthew 24 today. This devotional is about Genesis 33. Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. But Jacob himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him, and they both wept. When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, Who are these with you? Jacob answered, These are the children God has graciously given your servant. Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. Leah and her children also approached and bowed down. Then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down. What do you mean by sending this whole company to meet me? asked Esau. To find favor in your sight, my lord, Jacob answered. I already have plenty, my brother, Esau replied. Keep what belongs to you. But Jacob insisted, No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then receive this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me favorably. Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me, and I have all I need. So Jacob pressed him until he accepted. Then Esau said, Let us be on our way, and I will go ahead of you. But Jacob replied, My lord knows that the children are frail, and I must care for sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard for even a day, all the animals will die. Please let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly at a comfortable pace for the livestock and children until I come to my lord at Seir. Let me leave some of my people with you, Esau said. But Jacob replied, why do that? Let me find favor in the sight of my Lord. So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. But Jacob went on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called Succoth. After Jacob had come from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city. And the plot of ground where he pitched his tent, he purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of silver. There he set up an altar, and called it El Elohi Israel. This is God's word. Conflict with other people is a common part of this life. Sometimes you can end conflict by avoiding or ending your relationship with another person, but not always, especially if the conflict involves your family. Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, and they had a big conflict back in Genesis 27. Jacob created the conflict by using deceit to take Esau's rightful inheritance as the firstborn. Jacob then left town to avoid a confrontation with Esau, but God commanded him to return to the land of promise. So now Jacob must return home and face his slightly older brother. We read the account of their reunion here in Genesis 33. There is no direct statement of repentance from Jacob in this chapter, nor is there a direct statement of forgiveness here. But the actions and words recorded in this chapter demonstrate that some kind of reconciliation was sought by Jacob and given by Esau. We can see Jacob's desire to be forgiven by how he bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother, as verse 3 in the NIV says. That was an act of humility. One bow would be a customary sign of respect and courtesy. You can see Genesis 23-12 and Genesis 24-6 for some examples of that. But Jacob bowed down seven times, demonstrating his humility and deep desire to be accepted by his brother. In Genesis 32, 13 through 16, Jacob had selected a large amount of livestock for Esau as a gift. Jacob sent this livestock ahead of him as the gift. But here in chapter 33, verse 8, Esau asked why Jacob had sent all these animals ahead of him. Jacob answered, to find favor in your eyes, my lord. We saw that in verse 8, and that's the NIV's reading. This action, this gift by Jacob, was designed to pay restitution to Esau for stealing his birthright. So although Jacob did not directly ask for forgiveness, his actions demonstrated his desire to be received by his brother without hostility. When we look at Esau's actions, we see a man who is eager to be restored to his brother. Esau abandoned all formalities. He ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. He threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. That's what verse 4 in the NIV says. These actions indicated Esau's desire to be reconciled to Jacob. Jacob's statement, to see your face is like seeing the face of God now that you have received me favorably, in verse 10, are words of relief. He was grateful not to have been attacked by his brother, but instead to have been accepted. These actions would have communicated a restored relationship. even if Jacob didn't directly ask for reconciliation. Their customs spoke more powerfully to them than the frank conversation we'd expect in our culture. The end of the chapter suggests that Jacob didn't fully trust Esau, but at least they had found a measure of peace with each other to where they could dwell in the same land. Do you have any broken relationships in your life? Have you made an attempt in humility to try to repair that relationship? Are you willing to make restitution if you've damaged the other person in some way? God does not want us to live in tension or in fear or in avoidance. He wants us to own up to our sins, own up to our mistakes, and own up to our selfish acts, and then seek forgiveness for them. God also wants us to forgive those who sin against us. Like Christ, who came seeking us even though we sinned against him, we should seek out others we are estranged from and try to make peace. Given that, who do you need to call today to get this process started? And if you found this devotional helpful, please go to my website, dailypbj.com slash subscribe, and enter your email address. And then every day for free, these devotionals will show up in your inbox, and that will cue you to be in God's word every single day. Please consider becoming part of my financial support network so we can keep making video content like this and more. Go to dailypbj.com slash support if you're interested in being part of that mission. Please share this with someone who might be helped in their Christian life by it, and I'll see you next time. May God bless you. I hope you have a great day today.