Daily Devotionals
Devotional: 27th of Adar
You have shown your strength to both God and men and have prevailed (Genesis 32:29).
Do you desire to win? Do you secretly divide the world into winners and losers? Are you extra friendly with the winners in life and perhaps a little cautious with life's losers?
Ya'akov (Jacob) competed fiercely his whole life in order to win. He was even given a name which means "heel-grabber" or "supplanter." Ya'akov was accused by his twin brother of usurping both the blessing and the rights of the firstborn (Genesis 27:36). He also competed successfully with his uncle Lavan (Laban) for wealth and the right to transplant his family to the Promised Land (Genesis 31:43).
In Genesis 32, Ya'akov stands alone at the banks of the Yabbok (Jabbok) River, just outside the Promised Land. Stripped of his possessions, including his family, he could not return to Lavan's land nor move forward through Eysav's (Esau's) country. An assailant attacked him, and the struggle lasted all night. Shortly before dawn, the assailant crippled him for life. But Ya'akov would not let the attacker depart. Clutching, grabbing, holding on, he cried out, "I won't let you go unless you bless me" (Genesis 32:26). So the Lord renamed him Yisra'el (Israel), for he had prevailed against God and man.
Would you rather be a fast, vigorous Ya'akov or a halting, crippled Yisra'el? What does your answer tell you about your spiritual condition?
...stop being competitive toward those around me and allow the Lord to lift me up.
JEF