City Life Starter

I. The Word: Genesis 29:20 (NRSV)

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because
of the love he had for her.

II. Study Questions

1. How quickly does time pass when you’re joyful?
2. How quickly does time pass when you’re frustrated?
3. Does setting aside time for God cause you to feel joy or frustration?

The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible; it tells the story of the Israelites from
Creation of their migration to Egypt. The book is characterized by the scandalous family
drama that would put The Kardashians to shame. The verse for today comes from the
tale of Jacob, Laban, Rachel, and Leah. Jacob has fallen in love with Laban’s youngest
daughter, Rachel, and has agreed to work for Laban for seven years just to marry her.
After the initial seven years, Jacob gets tricked by Laban into marrying his other
daughter, Leah. Despite Laban’s dishonesty, Jacob still agrees to work an additional
seven years to marry Rachel! Today’s verse describing Jacob’s love for her is hyperbolic;
I’m sure if we went back in time and asked Jacob, he would remember that he worked
for longer than a few days. However, the literary device explains that his strong
affection eased the discomfort of sacrificing his free time for her.

We can directly apply this lesson to sacrificing time for God in our lives. When trying to
dedicate more time to God, we often make goals of spending a certain number of
minutes reading the Bible or praying. Though setting concrete goals is a helpful step, the
lack of passion in this approach often leads to failure. However, if the goal were to
increase and express our love for the Lord, the time we sacrifice for him wouldn’t feel as
uncomfortable. Moreover, if we enjoy sacrificing our time to foster a relationship with
God, then we are much more likely to reach our concrete goals for Bible reading &
prayer. Jacob had a concrete goal of serving Laban for seven years, but he achieved this
goal because he was inspired by his passion for Rachel, not by the seven-year goal itself.
His love-focused approach was so powerful that it carried him to serve double the
amount of time he had previously negotiated. Imagine if we pursued our Lord with such
unconditional affection!