"What's more, I will be with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. I will someday bring you safely back to this land. I will be with you constantly until I have finished giving you everything I have promised." Genesis 28:15
I have heard that some of the greatest writing is that of which relates to real life situations, and that might be so. But for me, the best writing is found in the Word of God.
The stories are real life. They do relate to us today, and unlike other stories, God’s stories are to help us in our own personal lives and relationship with Him.
Jacob could have tried to live throughout the ole’ “Do you know who my grandfather and father are?”
Better yet, Jacob could have lived his life believing he was covered because of Abraham and Isaac’s relationship with the Lord, thus not having his own relationship with the Lord. But that is not at all what God wanted for him or for us.
God wanted a personal relationship with Jacob, a one on one thriving and growing relationship. God wanted the same wholehearted devotion from Jacob that his Grandfather and Father had.
Thus the amazing dream Jacob had.
“As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from earth to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down on it. At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I will give it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will cover the land from east to west and from north to south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I will be with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. I will someday bring you safely back to this land. I will be with you constantly until I have finished giving you everything I have promised.” Genesis 28:12-15
After Jacob woke up he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it. He was afraid and said, ‘What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God-the gateway to heaven!” Genesis 28:16
Then, following that Jacob made his Vow.
“If God will be with me and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothing, and if he will bring me back safely to my father, then I will make the LORD my God. This memorial pillar will become a place for worshiping God, and I will give God a tenth of everything he gives me.” Genesis 28:20-22
Here is the crazy thing about Jacob’s vow. It left me feeling as though Jacob was telling God okay if you do this for me then I will do this and it bothered me. But guess what brethren, God reminded me that we do the same thing to Him; a lot and that bothered me even more.
I don’t want to determine my relationship with Christ based off of what He will do for me.
We can really learn a lot about relationships from God’s Word and His advice and stories will benefit us better in the long run than if we tried to have a relationship based off of a human’s perspective.
Father, thank You so much for Your Word and the amazing stories that are found in it! They relate to us on so many levels. May we spend more time investing in our relationship with You and in Your Word. Amen
