“I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.”
Genesis 32:10, ESV
Jacob was not what one could call an upstanding person. He cheated his brother out of his birthright and blessing, he lied to his father, and he took a large portion of his father-in-law's herd. Now, to be honest, his father-in-law was not an upstanding man, nor was his brother, Esau. In all reality, the whole family would have made a pretty interesting reality television program if they were around today. Yet, these are the people that God used to write His story. It wasn’t because they were the most upstanding family in the world, but God chose them to show His mercy and His blessing. We can find hope as we read the story of each of the people who were involved in the soap opera life that each of them lived. Isaac and Rachel picked favorites and played their children against one another, and Isaac even ignored the blessing spoken over his sons at their birth, which stated that Jacob would be the one God would bless. God had picked Isaac as the second born, the chosen son, over his half-brother Ishmael, who was Abraham’s firstborn, because Isaac was born to Sarah, as God had foretold. The reality of the whole situation is that none of God’s chosen were chosen because of worthiness, but God made them worthy through His blessing. God is the one who blesses, and we are the ones who receive. It is not ours to expect, but we can accept the blessings of our Lord as He shows us His mercy.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.