day no. 14,236: our present privilege should inform our present duty

"Let present privilege awaken us to present duty." - C. H. Spurgeon

Remembering who we are and what we have been given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ should produce a peculiar power. When the true disciple hears, "It is finished!" it spurs him on to greater endurance, not lesser indifference.

day no. 14,235: crown the Head and the whole body shares the honour

"Crown the Head and the whole body shares the honour"  - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

1 Corinthians 11:3
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

Ephesians 5:23
For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior.

When Jesus is honored, we are honored if we are in Him. When the Head receives its crown, the hands do not complain. Crowns are for heads. The hands are blessed when the head carries the weight of the crown for the rest of the body. The hands are honored as part of the body whose Head is crowned.

day no. 14,234: who, if and for how long?

In reflecting upon Exodus 33-34, I had the following thought:

If you choose God, you will have Him completely and forever. If you choose the world, you might obtain it, but only in part, only for a moment, and even then only to be taken away forever.

day no. 14,233: wrestling with God

Genesis 32:24-30

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.”

Before you get too carried away thinking Jacob walked away from an encounter with God victorious, consider again the details. Jacob would not let go and had his hip placed permanently out of joint by a flick of God's finger. Jacob did not pin God down. Jacob did not wear God out. He held on to God. Despite his fear of the future, he refused to let go of God. This was not easily done. It took all night and there were times where I imagine he felt like letting go of God altogether, but he persevered until the sun rose and received God's blessing as a result, and a new name, a new identity: no longer the trickster, the deceiver, but the one who wrestled and struggled with God, the one who gained hard fought blessing. Jacob previously received his father's blessing by deception, but on this night he received his Father's blessing by determination.

day no. 14,232: holding Him to His promises

Genesis 32:9-12

And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 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. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’"

Jacob holds God to His promises and we should too. God is given glory when we believe His promises and call Him to act in accordance with what He has clearly said He would do. This is faith. This is believing that God is Who He says He is and will do what He said He will do.

day no. 14,231: two camps

Genesis 32:1-2

Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God's camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

Mahanaim means "two camps." Jacob is beginning his story as a God story. God is with him and he is with God wherever he goes.

day no. 14,230: the fear of his father Isaac

Genesis 31:53

So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac

While Laban swears by gods plural, Jacob swears by God singular and adds the emphatic, "the Fear of his father Isaac." Make no mistake about it, Jacob's intention is to place the fear of God into Laban. His contention is not only that there is only one, true God; but additionally, that this God is to be feared. He cannot be lost like one of Laban's household gods. As for them, what are they? They can be taken, manipulated, broken, rusted, misplaced, or lost altogether. Laban is travelling mile after mile trying to find a god who needs his help. Jacob is travelling mile after mile knowing it is God who helps him.