Day 10, or January 10.
Don't Forget Who Comes First.
Our thoughts today are in Genesis chapter 28, verses 20 and 21.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will watch over me in this
journey I am taking, and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return
safely to my father's household, then the Lord will be my God.
First the big picture surrounding these verses.
As Isaac grows older and nears the end of his life, Esau is hoping that his action of
selling his birthright for a bowl of soup has all been forgotten.
Jacob, on the other hand, is very unlikely to do that.
There's too much at stake.
In fact, he is set on confirming it by getting his dying father's blessing, which will
make him certain to inherit all that his father leaves.
In a bold charade of dressing up to feel and smell like Esau, Jacob is confident he can
trick Isaac into blessing him.
And he does.
Esau is furious, as you can imagine, and vows to kill him.
Jacob suspects as much and runs for his life.
He leaves at his mother's urging and with his father's approval, even though Isaac
must still be seething by the way Jacob has stolen all that should have gone to his favorite
son Esau.
Jacob runs north to Haran or Nehor, where his mother comes from originally, looking
for refuge.
On his way, Jacob has a real encounter with God and dreams of a ladder linking earth and
heaven and names the place Bethel, house of God.
It's here that he tries negotiating with God.
And now our action step for today.
Jacob encounters God and makes a promise to him, but he has conditions.
If God is with me and protects me and supplies me with food and clothes, then I will follow
him.
If God doesn't demand total faithfulness from us before he welcomes us as his children,
and he doesn't, how dare we demand all he has for us before we agree to follow him?
We cannot barter ourselves into a relationship with God, and the sooner we recognize that,
the better it will be for all of us.