Good morning, I hope you are all enjoying the daily devotionals. I wish I had more time every day to read God’s Word. Just hearing His voice and letting it speak to my soul. Someday, I hope to retire and be able to devote all my time to reading and writing about my Savior.
For today, we will examine Genesis chapters 33-35. As usual, there were three things which really stood out to me.
The land of plenty
First, in 33:9, Jacob is worried about how Esau is going to react to his return to Canaan and so he sends these lavish gifts ahead to soften his brother up. Esau’s reaction, however, is, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”
I know I am blessed more than many people. I have worked for a generous company for over two decades and we live frugally. This has enabled me to save and invest and, while far from being wealthy, I have long passed the point where we lived paycheck to paycheck.
This was not always our situation. I grew up very poor at some points. As you can read in my book, I even lived in my car a few times. When my wife and I first started out, we had to juggle bills and scrimp to get by, and even then it was only through God’s mercy that we survived.
But we remained steadfast, served God, and over time, we gained the level of comfort we have.
Yet, at what point do we, any of us, say “I already have plenty?” In America, that almost seems like a foreign mindset. We always want more.
Being Content
Over the holidays we had dinner with a friend who has a refrigerator and microwave from the 1970s that is still in everyday working condition. He maintained them, and the manufacturers built them to last. The couple found contentment in their belongings, unfazed by modern advancements. It’s rare for people to achieve the contentment advised in Hebrews 13:5.
Because of this discontentment, we see what happens to Jacob and his family. After this whole mess with Dinah being raped, Simeon and Levi slaughtering and plundering the Hivites for Shechems actions, which were heinous, Jacob tells his household to “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you.”
That is the result of discontentment. We read of it throughout the scriptures. People want more, so they seek other gods who they believe will give them more than God has already provided. It would be easy to fault them if we didn’t do this too. We make idols out of our jobs, our investments, our bank balance. Struggling to make that grow so we can have more that what God has given us.
We bypass serving God to prioritize our financial and material wealth. In the end, we are materially wealthy, but spiritually bankrupt. This was how sin resulting in rape and then murder had manifested itself in Jacob’s household.
Time for change
Which leads to the last point: in 35:10, God changes Jacob’s name to Israel.
When we allow ourselves to be corrupted by this greed, we need to leave that part of ourselves in the past and become a new creation. This is the picture of putting off the old man (see Eph 4:22-24) and being born again (see John 3:3).
Ecclesiastes 5:10 declares that we will never be satisfied with our wealth. Therefore, at some point, we all have to adopt Esau’s mindset and say, “I have enough.”. Let’s invite God to transform us with contentment before the world taints us.
