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This series of events has always bothered me. Throughout this story it appears that deception is being constantly rewarded. Laban is rewarded with 7 extra years of Jacob’s labor by secretly giving him Leah in marriage instead of Rachel. Laban attempts to maintain his wealth by agreeing to give Jacob the spotted goats but then secreting this goats away to a different flock. Jacob uses trickery to build up a flock of spotted goats. Then Rachel deceives her own father and hides the stolen idols.

 

What is the point of all this deception? I do not think that this is behavior which we are called to emulate. Rather, I see this as a story of God keeping his promises in spite of the actions of Jacob. God had promised that he would bless Abrahams descendents and it appears that nothing Jacob could do was going to get in the way of that blessing.

The lesson I think that we can take from this passage is that God is more faithful than we are. Once we have invited God into our lives God will stay with us even through the times when we act in ungodly ways. Over the course of our lives we all have times when we deceive, we all have times of doubt, we all have seasons of sin, we all have times when we feel far from God. Throughout these times God will not abandon us, rather he is waiting patiently for us to return to Him. Once God has blessed us, he will not revoke that blessing.

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Ultimately, we decide who we are, and that decision is made by what we choose to do. If we choose to be promiscuous, or lazy, or competitive, or angry, or joyful, or forgiving, or vindictive, those all decide who we are. Our pastor concluded by saying that God loves us even if we have made stupid choices and that the first step toward making good choices is asking Christ to forgive us and enter into our lives. He then prayed a prayer of repentance and asked anyone who wished to, to pray along.

After the prayer, anyone who had prayed that prayer for the first time or who had ever prayed that prayer was asked to move to the other side of the room. Everyone got up and moved. This left me with mixed emotions. I am sure that there were kids there that moved, not because they had a new relationship with Christ but because their friends moved. I am also sure that there were a few kids that were genuinely moved by the evening and have started a new a precarious relationship with Christ. How do we as adult leaders make sure totake the time to meet the needs of the new Christians when we can not even be sure who they are?

I am praying for the youth in my small group. They have shown tremendous growth this year and I hope that they continue to grow. I believe that God is working on each one of them and I love them a great deal. My prayer is that God protects them from evil as he grows within them.

Oh God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come; our shelter from the storm blast, and our eternal home. Be with these youth tomorrow as they go to school. Wrap your arms around them and guide them in the decisions that they make. Help them to learn that they need to live for something greater than themselves, they need to live for you. Give them hearts of hope, purity, and love. Help them to see the consequences of their choices so that they might learn to honor you with their lives.

Thank you God, Amen

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