Quick, who’s your favorite Bible character? Moses? Elijah? Or it could be, and I bet it is, Joseph. He’s kind of easy to pick, isn’t he – what a fine young man, the pride of his parents. Loved and trusted by his father, Joseph was a conscientious shepherd, a model prisoner, and the best secretary of state that Egypt ever had. I mean, did the guy ever disobey? If he did, I can barely remember it.
Well, do you want to know which Bible character has been on my mind lately? Kind of my latest favorite? Recently I’ve come around to really appreciating Jacob… Jacob, the two-timing cheat. The mama’s boy. The conniver. It’s amazing to me that he’s lauded in one of God's own titles, when he refers to himself, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The name Jacob even means deceiver.
In case you’ve forgotten the story, we could pick it up where Isaac was about to pass on the family blessing to Esau, his eldest son. Jacob, with a little help from his mother, hoodwinked his father into giving him the blessing instead. It says in Genesis 27 that Jacob went close to his father, Isaac, who touched him and said, “‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau… are you really my son, Esau?’ he asked. ‘I am,’ Jacob lied.” Then Isaac went ahead and blessed him, asking God to open up the storehouses of heaven and pour grain, wine, wealth, honor, and the accolades of nations down upon… a liar.
Over the next few years, Jacob’s sins never seemed to really catch up with him until the night before he was about to face his brother (and he knew Esau had a contract out on him – the guy wasn’t happy).Through the night, Jacob agonized with the Lord in a prayer meeting that more closely resembled a wrestling match. Actually, it was. Jacob says to the angel of the Lord, “I will not let you go unless you bless me!” And then, right in the middle of a half-nelson, the angel asks back, “What is your name?” (as if he didn’t know). And Jacob cries out his answer, “I am Jacob!” In other words, “Lord, I’m a deceiver, I’m a double-minded cheat. That’s who I am!”
And that’s all God wanted to hear, for with that, Jacob received the blessing. And he got a new name for it. It was to be a reminder that all God wants is a repentant heart which fully acknowledges how rotten to the core it really is.
The moral of this story today? If you come clean with God, then God will use you. And if you don’t come clean, He may use you anyway (remember, Jacob gave birth to Joseph, everybody’s favorite, long before that nighttime wrestling match). God will use whoever He wishes. But if you want it to count in heaven, then acknowledge the depths of your weakness so that God will use you here, and honor you up there. And if He did it with Jacob, He can do it with you.
Used by permission of
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