Gen 29-30
Forget about Jacob, Leah was dealt a bad hand here! She was given to somebody who did not want her and had to ‘share’ that somebody with her sister, who was loved. Talk about being neglected, rejected, unappreciated and unloved! Talk about living in a negative circumstance! What I find interesting is that it was unloved Leah through whom Jesus’ line travels.
The other thing I find interesting, is that for her first three sons, Leah is seeking to please and win the affection of her husband (something we all know is beyond unlikely to ever happen). But for the fourth she says, “This time I will praise the LORD.” (Gen 29:35) And guess which son carries Jesus’ line? Yup – Judah, #4. This reminds me both that seeking to please God is far better than seeking to please any other, and that difficult circumstances do not indicate that I am forgotten by God. A few other ways I could say that, but that’s the gist of it. There is so much other stuff in this passage, but this is what sticks out to me today.
Matt 19
In the story about the rich young man, Jesus calls out several of the commandments, which the man says he has kept. But Jesus only mentions 6 of the 10 – the 6 that deal with our relationship to others. The four He left out are the four that deal with our relationship to God. So when Jesus mentioned selling all his possessions, I believe He did so because this man’s possessions were his god and Jesus knew it.
Wealth is not bad, but wealth is one of those things that can very easily take the place of God in your life. And so this man was not keeping the first four of the 10 commandments, which boil down to the command to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your strength, all your soul, and all your mind.”
So Leah sought to please another and this man served his wealth – what in my life attempts to take the place of God?