City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

¹³ So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” ¹⁷ He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” ¹⁹ He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, ²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Genesis 32:13-21 ESV

²³ And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 19:23-24 ESV

Reflection

To understand this passage, it is important to understand from where Jacob has come.  All that he has came from trickery and scheming.  He is a trickster, but he has been going through a process of being changed. I heard second hand that Pastor Brad Summers said that God is taking him through a process of untwisting.  Pay attention to Jacob’s relationship with God.  He has always been one who schemes to get whatever catches his gaze, happy to forgo the present for future pleasure, and living by his own wits.  But as he is untwisted he learns to turn to God.  He turns to him for direction and blessing.

As Jacob is about to meet his brother, the one who was looking to kill him, Jacob goes through the process of separating himself from all that he has.  Growing up, I was taught that the expression that Jesus used about a camel going through the eye of a needle meant that the traveler arrived at the city late at night and would have to go through the small gate, which meant that the camels would have to be unloaded to get through.  So, when Jesus tells us the enter by the narrow gate, He is also making a reference to the idea of unloading oneself of one’s possessions.  To do that, one must believe that there is sufficiency on the other side of the gate.

As Jacob unloads himself of all that he has, he still has not lost his old nature. He still looks for a scheme to keep hold of his possessions.  He divides them, so that if one is attacked, he still have the other.  But he stayed behind to meet with God. You can fault him for not being out in front of all those possessions, being willing to sacrifice himself for his loved ones.  But there is something more important.  Jacob has a divine appointment; an appointment that will change everything.  And it is this appointment that will undo all the lies and misdeeds that has led him to this point and make him a new creation.

Application

What is there in your life that you would be willing to part with to make things right with an enemy of yours? Your car? Your house? Your spouse? Your friends?

Have you ever cheated someone, and then realize that it did not honor the Lord or His kingdom?

What about traffic?  Ever cut someone off on the highway just to be in front of them in a traffic jam?

Earth shattering trickery or petty deceit, it doesn’t really matter.  It’s all twisted behavior that needs to be redeemed.  Oh, you can try just not doing bad things, like the Rich Young Ruler.  And I would say that it is right that you do put some effort into it in that direction. But it will mean nothing if you do not have an appointment with God. It is He who is above to untwist the deceitfulness of your heart and bring you into the joy that comes from something other than a rush of emotions.

Untwist, unturn, and be changed by the Lord.

Prayer

Dear Father in heaven, I know that You attend my life and are working on my character every day. I also know that my sin is not sufficient to disrupt the work You are doing in my life. Change my heart, that it might know and trust You in all things.  The happiness You work in my life is sufficient for me.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.