Jacob was willing not only to work seven years in exchange
for Rachel being his wife, he was willing to work fourteen years. This was necessary because his father in law
deceived him by taking in his oldest daughter, Leah, to sleep with him on the
night of the feast. Because Jacob loved
Rachel, Laban knew that he could get away with his deception and at the same
time get an additional seven years of labor out of his nephew/son-in-law. It would be difficult to not be angry with
both Leah and her father after such a deception but it is certainly easy to see
which side of the family this deception as a lifestyle comes from isn't
it? Jacob is his mother's son to the
core and this time he has gotten trapped by the master at the game. Leah wants desperately for her husband to
love her and the Lord opens her womb in order that she is the fruitful one but
it seems Jacob is nonplussed by the situation.
Jesus speaks to the disciples just after the rich young
ruler has walked away from the call to follow Jesus. Then, as now, the presumption is too often
that those with money, prosperity, are blessed by God and so if the kingdom
excludes the wealthy it seems no one can get in. This teaching relates directly to Jesus'
teachings on the kingdom being an asset which must be prized above all others
in order to possess. The offer was for
the man to lay aside all his earthly kingdom in order to receive the heavenly
inheritance, and he wasn't ready to do so at this juncture, he valued the
earthly inheritance more. Jesus says
that, as difficult as it is, with God all things are possible. The kingdom of God is either everything to us
or it is nothing. Do we truly value the
kingdom of God or do we say to Him that it is something of lesser value than
the here and now? He offers us something
infinitely greater and eternal and too often we say to Him we don't have time
for that now.
Paul says that we are to be careful what we listen to and
follow. He says some will depart from
the faith and will follow dietary laws and other teachings like abstinence from
marriage, what we would refer to as strict asceticism as the path to
godliness. Paul, however, says that
mystery of godliness is outside of us, it is simply Jesus. While discipline of the body may be helpful
and good, knowing Jesus is the ultimate training in godliness, it is a way of
thinking about life and our place in the grand scheme of things in light of
Jesus. Will we trust Him in all things
and for all things or will we rely on our own devices? It depends on which kingdom is most important
to us doesn’t it?
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