Jacob Had A Lot to Learn!

One thing about scripture is that is a living document. If you think it is some outdated book that has no relevance for our lies today, you need to take another look. You and I are in there!

Take for instance Jacob when he made this statement:

²⁰ Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, ²¹ and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. Genesis 28:20-21 (NLT)

Jacob, like a lot of us had a list of conditions that he used to determine if God would be his God. He wanted protection, he wanted food and clothing, he wanted to be able to return safely to his father’s house – then- “the Lord will certainly be my God”.

How many of us say this or something like it. God give me a good job, protect all my family, help me to get a nice car and a nice house, give me friends, and don’t forget a tall, handsome/beautiful mate! The list grows as we our life goes on. And if for some reason, we fail to get something on our list, then we are upset with God – and sometimes if something terrible happens, we question if God even exists.

Jacob had to learn that he needed God to be his God, in the good times and in the bad. When he knew what his next step was, and when he wondered if his very life was in peril. Consider Jacob a few years later:

. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”…

Then he blessed Jacob there.

³⁰ Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” Genesis 32 : (select verses 26, 30)NLT

In the first set of verses Jacob was an arrogant kid, a deceiver who felt like he could trick anybody into doing what needed to be done – perhaps – even God. In the second set of verses, Jacob had been tricked over and over by a master deceiver, his father-in-law Laban. His tone was completely different, for now he was not making a list for God to follow, he was so glad that having met God that his life had been spared. Quite a contrast.

All of us, if we allow the tests and trials of life to teach us will eventually change our attitude. We will stop looking to God as the Santa Claus in the sky and bow our face in reverence to the God who made the sky, the heavens and the earth and all that they include.

This should be an encouragement to any parent who has a child who doesn’t know the God Jacob came to know – give them time – God, and life – will teach them.

Maria