Verse of the Day 3/17

Through the Bible - Job 30-31, 1 Corinthians 10:19-33

 

Good morning,

Over the past few days we've considered being earnest and devoted in prayer, taking the time to be alone with God.  You may have heard of someone going to their "prayer closet".  Its not a literal closet but a place of retreat to be alone with God.  The Little River Band had a song "Cool Change", the main line in the song said "if there's one thing in my life I'm missing its the time that I spend alone".  The song writer was looking for "a cool change".

 

For today's verse we'll go back to the book of Genesis to a time where Jacob was facing some change.  He did not spend much time alone.  But as he faced the prospect of meeting up with his brother Esau, whose birthright he had stolen years ago, he retreated to be alone with himself.

 

Gen 32:22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.   NIV

Jacob went off to "wrestle with his thoughts" but something else happened.  Solitude, quietness, and a gentle breeze under the stars, the God showed up.  A change was coming but I don't think it was the "cool change" of song.

Have you ever thought that you were alone and someone sneaks up and put there hand on your shoulder or taps you?  It was pitch dark and a stranger taps Jacob on the shoulder.  It was God who took him on for the wrestling match of his life.

 

I don't know how many times I've read this over the years, but I had it wrong.  I thought that Jacob wrestled with God, but it was the other way around.  J. M. Boice writes, "It is true that Jacob asked for a blessing.  But at the beginning it is not Jacob who seeks God to wrestle with him; rather, it is God, who comes to wrestle with Jacob to bring him to a point of both physical and spiritual submission."

 

God was wrestling with Jacob to get something from him.  He wanted Jacob to realize who he was and whose he was.  This would be a turning point in Jacob's life, a time of submission, a time to start doing what God wanted and to stop conniving to get the things that he had wanted.

 

During the wrestling match God touched him physically and spiritually.  The physical aspect would be a reminder that it was real, it wasn't a dream.

 

When was the last time God tapped you on the shoulder and started the wrestling match?  Perhaps He's seeking a change of direction in your life.

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV
Gen 32:22-32

 

Jacob Wrestles with God

 

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the  Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And  a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said,  "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28 Then he said,  "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for  you have striven with God and  with men, and have prevailed." 29 Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said,  "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For  I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed  Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.
ESV