The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Genesis 29:14b-20,
“After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, Laban said to him, ‘Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.’ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, ‘I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.’ Laban said, ‘It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.’ So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.”
Seven years! How many would be willing to work seven years with the sole compensation being a spouse? Although we would all claim such sacrifice as an expression of love for our spouses, I suspect most wives that would come at that price might wind up as spinsters – few might marry. However, Jacob expresses his great love for Rachel in setting seven years of his life as how valuable she is to him. Here is a love that cannot be questioned or doubted. And Moses goes on to tell us that the seven years seemed only like a few days to Jacob, he loved her so much! As we continue on in the account we see that Laban snookers Jacob by replacing Rachel with Leah and Jacob agrees to another seven years of work to gain the woman he loves! Possibly if our spouses today had to come at a meaningful sacrifice demonstrating such love, there may be less divorce and a greater appreciation that spouses might have for one another.
In Scripture, as we all know, the number seven is a special number that represents fullness, completeness. Jacob’s love for Rachael is a full and complete love. This morning this account brings to my mind the great love that God has for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loves us! He has demonstrated his full and complete love for us in sacrificing his Son for us! This is a love that its depth is not easy to comprehend but Paul prays that believers might be given power by God to help them understand the full dimension of God’s love. In Ephesians 3:17b-19 we read, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Comprehending the tremendous love of our God for us is life-transforming, that we might be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
What a love this is! God gives us his Son, while we were sinners, while we were his enemies! “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What a heart our loving God has for us!!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!
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