Day 10, or January 10. Don't forget who comes
first. Our thoughts today are in Genesis 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 favourite son Esau. Jacob runs north to Haran,
or Nahor, 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.