For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page. Day 28 (July 28)
Gen. 30
Ah – the great “baby war”. How sad to find your value only in producing sons. If I am honest, though, there have been times when I placed my value in even lesser things. But children were where it was at for Leah and Rachel. Early in the race, when Leah was forging ahead, Rachel, “became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or else I die.’” (Gen. 30:1b). It seems Rachel was as melodramatic as Esau!
Anyway, when I read that, I thought about how different Rebekah and Isaac’s response to her infertility was. Then I noticed what drove that difference. Basically, it was the competition. If Leah had not been in the picture, I’m sure Rachel would have still been upset, but her response to the situation likely would have been much different. My thought in noticing that is that the presence of others has a way of changing our focus. We have a tendency to start comparing ourselves with them and, as a result, we become far more “me” focused. That is never a good thing, as it opens the door wide to things like Rachel’s jealousy.
Hopefully, we never have to deal with literally sharing a spouse with a sibling, but dealing with other people is an unavoidable fact of life. Thus, it’s good to be aware of our tendency to look to others and start to compare. If we are aware of it, we can turn it over to God so that He can overcome that tendency in us and keep our focus on Him. Only then will we be able to respond to the difficult situations with others in a way that is pleasing to God. Perhaps that’s why the Ten Commandments first put our focus on God and then address our interactions with others.
One last thought on this is that, as believers, we are all metaphorically both brothers and sisters and also the collective bride of Christ. So maybe we are more in Leah and Rachel’s position than we might think. So, as hard as it can be, we really need to remember the importance of loving one another. We see it repeatedly in John’s first letter. “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 Jn. 4:20a).
Mark 1
Mark seems to be a very “just the facts” kind of writer. Want to hit the main points of Jesus’ time on earth without all the extra detail? Mark is the place to go! A quick synopsis of chapter 1 tells us the following:
- John the Baptist came as Jesus’ prophesied messenger.
- Jesus prepared for His ministry with baptism and a time of testing in the wilderness.
- Jesus then started His ministry in Galilee, gathering disciples, preaching repentance, and healing the masses.
- The demons knew who He was from the beginning.
So already we see evidence from prophecy, Jesus’ own actions, and from the spiritual realm of the truth that Jesus is the Christ, God’s promised Messiah.
Est 6
Haman’s amazing panel of wise counselors (written with heavy sarcasm…) told him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.” (Est. 6:13b). I wonder what made them say that. This is the same crowd that told Haman to hang Mordecai, the Jew. If they believed that opposing someone of Jewish origin was futile, why, then, did they recommend that? They made a complete U-turn in their position, that’s for sure!
I will say, though, that their statement speaks a Biblical truth for us. While there is nothing in this story that proves the truth of this statement for anyone other than Haman, it echoes a message repeated in various ways throughout the Bible. Thus, we can see this specific statement, in this specific story, as a sort of parable or representation of that greater Biblical truth. “What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8:31). And, in Jesus’ own words, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (Jn. 16:33b). Indeed, if we belong to Christ, before whom the evil one has already begun to fall, the evil one will not overcome us.