Can you remember the first time you left home by yourself? Maybe it was for college, maybe a week at camp, maybe to travel the world. When we leave what is familiar, it can be hard on the one hand, but exhilarating on the other, especially if you like an adventure. Jacob was about to leave what was familiar so he could be safe. He was also on a mission to find the wife to help him live out his legacy, God’s promise to Abraham, his grandfather.
Jacob wasn’t venturing out into the unknown. He was going to his Uncle Laban’s house to find a bride. Do you ever get lost in all of the family dynamics here? Sometimes I have to draw it out or picture it in my head. Laban was his mother’s brother. We hear later in our reading how Esau goes to Uncle Ishmael’s house for a bride. Ishmael is his father’s half-brother. Cousins in marriage, we don’t see it much today but it does still happen. It hasn’t been that long ago that it was more of a common occurrence.
So what we do we take from today’s reading? It’s all part of God’s master plan and we get a front row seat to watch it unfold. A mother sends her favorite son away to keep him from being killed by the other brother. Sounds like a soap opera. Do you ever wonder why Jacob never married a Hittite girl as his brother did? Was God already working in his heart and mind? Had Jacob followed his older brother’s example, God would have had some “clean up” to do.
God does clean up our lives when we make the wrong choices. I’ve seen it firsthand. I will never know what God’s “Plan A” was for my life, but that’s okay because he has delivered me into a beautiful “Plan B.” When we can admit our failures and our sinfulness and return to God, he will wash us clean.
Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” We may be away from our heavenly home, but God is watching out for us. We have many choices in life. I always want to choose the choice most aligned with God’s will for me. I want to stand against the sinful and unhealthy behaviors that could so easily catch me off guard.
We are all away from home, our heavenly home. We are all on a mission in this life. How God uses each of us can be so different. How we serve and worship is also quite different. When you think of life as a mission with a purpose, does that change how you want to spend your day?
John 14:1-3 gives us a beautiful glimpse of our true home. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” When everything is ready. God’s perfect timing will know when it’s time for us to go home again.
For now, we are away from home living in the beautiful world God created just for us. Our job is to stay connected to him and to worship and love him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are also to love each other. How are you doing at loving your neighbor? How are you at loving God more than anything else? We can always do better.
Let’s pray. Lord, I thank you that you have given me such a beautiful assignment and a beautiful place to live it. I do look forward to the day when I can come home and spend eternity with you. But for now, I awake each day eager to see what adventure you have laid out for me. I want to make the most of each day, each conversation, each opportunity to love and serve you. Help me clear away the clutter that tends to crowd my head. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
