Today's Reading:Gen. 29:1-30"Jacob, Laban, Rachel and Leah"
Focus Verses: Genesis 27:18-19
22 So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23 But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. 24 And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant. 25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?" 26 Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work."
Insight:
The story of Jacob's arrival in Paddan Aram is very reminiscent of the trip Abraham's servant made to get a wife for Isaac (Jacob's mother). It doesn't take long to see that Jacob had met his match in Uncle Laban. No wonder Abraham was against his son, Isaac, going back to Haran, and forbade his servant from taking him there.
Abraham's wise servant managed to accomplish his mission and return home. Jacob, however, impulsively signed up for seven years of service and got hoodwinked into fourteen years. As I read the story, I find it almost comical to hear Jacob say to Laban, "What have you done? Why have you deceived me?"
The deceiver was outdeceived by Laban. Will Jacob's dealings with his conniving uncle teach him anything about trusting God? Will he learn to rely on God more than his own wits?
Response and Action:
I want to rely on God for my life and my direction in life. I need more than my wits, I need his wisdom. I want to integrity more than ingenuity. I want to delight and walk in God's ways so I don't have to learn everything the hard way.
O God, show me you ways. Guide me in your truth and lead me. Help me to trust in you with all my heart, and not depend on my own strength and understanding. I want to acknowledge you, and my need for you, in every day and every way. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 11:3
"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity."
New Testament for Today: 1 Corinthians 3:19-20
18Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; 20and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
In Context: 1 Corinthians 3
