Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods. Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead. On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You've deceived me, and you've carried off my daughters like captives in war. Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing. I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?" Jacob answered Laban, "I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods. So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing. Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period." So he searched but could not find the household gods." Genesis 31:17-35
Sin. Once introduced by Adam and Eve, it has taken root in every man and woman ever since. There is no cure for it. We all have it and will have it for as long as we live on this earth. And it is a very progressive disease if not treated and controlled. In other words, it has a tendency to spread and spread rapidly throughout a person if left unchecked. Maybe you can relate. I know I can.
One other dangerous thing to remember about sin…it’s highly contagious. Even if we’re able to get ourselves into remission, we need to always be on guard because we could end up "catching sin" from another just as easy as we catch a common cold.
In our scripture today, we find Jacob, with his family and belongings in tow, setting out to return home from his time with Laban. Two problems emerge from his departure. First, he failed to tell the devious, scheming Laban he was leaving and, second, Rachel decided to steal her father’s household idols. These two actions anger Laban who sets out to catch and confront Jacob about them.
We read where it took seven days for Laban to reach Jacob and his traveling group but we also read where God reached Laban first. This Laban who worshipped other gods by way of the very idols that Rachel had stolen was now confronted by the One True God…his Father and the One who had bestowed special blessing on him through Jacob. God warns Laban to "be careful" in what he said to Jacob for Jacob was carrying out God’s command to return home and was not to be deterred. Laban heeds God’s command as he only inquires why Jacob departed without telling him, saying "What have you done? You've deceived me, and you've carried off my daughters like captives in war. Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing. I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?"
Yes, you heard right. Laban is accusing Jacob of deceiving him and stealing from him…two sins that Laban was so very good at. Maybe this has happened to you at sometime or another. You had someone do something to you that you had either done to them or another at sometime, yet you respond in such a way that might indicate that you had never committed the wrong done against you. You see, we all have a very short memory when it comes to the sins we have done. Jesus addressed this by saying, "He who have no sin cast the first stone." Too bad that Laban lived before Jesus because he didn’t have the chance to have that guidance. We don’t have that excuse.
Another important point to make about Laban and his deceiving attitude. We didn’t see it really come out until Jacob came on the scene…the same Jacob who partnered with his mother Rebekah to deceive his father Isaac into giving him Esau’s birthright. And the Isaac that got deceived was the same Isaac who decided to deceive King Abimelech by telling him Rebekah was his sister and not his wife…just like his father Abraham had done before him. Fast forward back to our scripture today and see Rachel steal her father’s precious belongings and then lie about doing it. The daughter now deceiving her father who was so good at deceiving others. The wife of a man who had deceived becoming a deceiver herself. Can you not see where sinful behavior was passed along from parent to child…from husband to wife? Can you not see the contagious nature of sin revealed in our scripture…and it is still revealing itself in our lives today.
Maybe you can relate to the contagious nature of sin. Maybe you have committed the very iniquities that you have had done to you by another. My parents used to say that two wrongs don’t make a right. The Lord would say it differently…"Don’t commit a wrong in the first place and you will live right." Our standard for living can’t be dictated by how we respond to what others do to us or to others…for that’s when we get into trouble and fall into sin...it’s how we leave remission and relapse into being overcome by the sin disease. The only way we can keep sin at bay…and in doing so, keep from repeating the sins of the past…is to keep our eyes…our hearts…our minds… ever fixed on the Father and the Son He sent to die for us…to bear the very sins we still commit on the cross so we might find pardon…and mercy…and grace. He sacrificed Jesus because He loves us. We can show him our gratitude by doing everything in our power to ward off the sin disease within us. He stands ready to help us. The rest is up to us.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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