Living in the Spirit
July 28, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Genesis 32:22-31 

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’ 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. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. —Genesis 32:24-31

The last time we encountered Jacob having anything to do with God was at Bethel when he was running in fear from his brother Esau and dreamed of a stairway to heaven. One would think that would have left enough of an impression that Jacob would have developed a deeper relationship with God, but that does not seem to be the case. He has been away from home long enough to work seven years for his wife, married two women, and had eleven children by four women. Now he has decided it is time to go home and on that trip who shows up again but God. This time Jacob did not experience a comforting dream, he wrestled with God and apparently in that struggle he wrestled with himself. While he came out limping, he came out alive. I wonder if he had decided he should not have come out alive. Perhaps he stacked up all the evidence and saw himself condemned. Perhaps according to human standards, he was right. God had a different plan for him. He was declared no less than the father of the great nation promised to his grandfather Abraham. He became Israel.

We can’t really call Jacob the prodigal son; he was not returning home because he had wasted all his material resources. On the contrary he came with and abundance of wealth according to the world. His poverty rested in his estrangement with both his family and with God. Reconnecting with God was the first step in potentially reconnecting with his family. At some point Jacob had gotten his priorities straight. Perhaps it was in that wrestling match.

Prayer: Lord, it is hard to keep our priorities straight to know what is really important and what is not. Please order our lives so that we live them fully for you and thus everything else will fall into place. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.