Devotion:
Read Genesis 25:19-26.
Competition between siblings is natural, but the struggle between Jacob and Esau was something else. In this passage, we learn of the twin boys jostling one another inside their mother’s womb! Esau was born first, red and covered with hair, as his name aptly depicts him. Little Jacob was last and grasping at Esau’s heel in a futile attempt to hold Esau back in order to be born first and get all the privileges that came to the firstborn son. Jacob’s name literally means, “he grasps the heel,” which is a Hebrew phrase describing one who deceives others.
It is almost humorous to think of someone as deceptive as Jacob starting out this way from birth. This week, we will explore Jacob’s life and see how God wrestled with him. While Abraham was the father of the Children of Israel, it was his grandson Jacob who would be the father of the twelve heads of the tribes of Israel. How could God use such a wiley, selfish, and deceptive person as Jacob for such an honorable and important role? God has a way of humbling and changing us, even using the most unlikely of us to do God’s work. Enjoy the readings this week!
Personal Worship Option:
Think in your devotional time now about someone who is deceptive, perhaps struggling to be honest in their dealings with others. Wonder if they are wrestling with God? Pray for that person, recognizing that all of us need to change in different ways.
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