Jacob to Israel – A Life Transformed – 5
Jacob’s life is changing because of his encounter with ‘Almighty God’. God had a plan for this rebellious, scheming youth who had spent most of his young life getting what he wanted, by hook or by crook.
God has a plan for all of us, he wants to transform us from sinners to saints, to set us free from the power of cancelled sin so that we can be of use in His kingdom.
Jacob was now willing to serve. We read that he served Laban for a month, he had made such a good impression that Laban said, after a month ‘Why should you serve for nothing, what shall I pay you?’ Wouldn’t that be great if our boss came to us and said ‘well done what pay rise do you want?’
God is in the business of rewarding, and remember Jacob had vowed a tenth of all that he accumulated he would give back to God.
Jacob, by this time, was totally besotted with his cousin Rachel, beautiful beyond comparison, so much so that he was willing to serve Laban for 7 years so that he could marry her. What a commitment not just on a physical level waiting for the person you love for 7 years but also on a spiritual level where Jacob had begun to realise that his life was in God’s hands not in his own.
Do we realise that when we have ‘God encounters’ like Jacob and the ladder or life struggles like being cheated by Laban, do we embrace them as the God given experience that He has allowed, so our lives can be transformed in order that we can be of use to God and His plan of salvation for all people?
What is it that keeps us and makes us stay where we are?
- Is it fear of the unknown
- Security in our current surroundings
- Just plain ignorance.
Do we know that we are in the right place with God?
- In our lives
- Our marriages
- Our work place
There is a sense that the Spirit of God within us is always restless, the ‘God Encounters’ will always serve as a homing device that draw us back to God Himself, yet we seem to fail to recognise that it is God working in us to accomplish His plan for us.
Jacob had this experience whilst working for Laban. He had faithfully served Laban even though he had been cheated and mistreated, the goal posts had always been moved by Laban, his employer, and made worse by the fact that Laban was his father-in-law. Do we feel mistreated in our workplace? Do we feel this need to flee, to run away and change our circumstances or do we have this desire in us that wants to return to our Heavenly Father where everything will be OK? Jacob felt all these things and had gotten to the point where he felt that he had to return home and back to his own place and country Genesis 30:25.
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