Tuesday 3 Jun 2014

June 3: Genesis 29:15-20

Key Verse: Genesis 29:20
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

Devotion:
Do you look at working for God as a job, a pleasure or just something you do? How do you look at God’s work? And what has it got to do with Jacob and Rachel? When Jacob met Rachel he fell in love with her and wanted her to be his wife. In order to do that, he had to negotiate some sort of dowry to secure her hand; but at this stage Jacob had very little to offer other than working for Laban. He was quite willing to work for seven years in order to pay off that dowry and so he did, probably with a good and honest spirit, working hard. The time seemed to pass very quickly for him because he was focused on the future and what it would mean to him.

If we focus on our future with Christ, our future in heaven, then we should have no problem with working for God in a diligent and faithful manner; not because of any reward we will receive before we get to heaven other that the joy it will bring along the way. It is our reward of being there in heaven that should spurn us forward to be willing to do what God wants of us. Jacob submitted himself to Laban without question until Laban went back on his word. From our point of view we can always be sure that God will never go back on His word!

When we look forward to the joy and peace we will receive in heaven we will not take much notice of the suffering that we may face along the journey. Christ had to go through a lot because of our sins. We are living in our time of grace because Christ has already been through that all. When we sin we do not have to expect great punishment and suffering to compensate for that sin in any way; Christ has paid for it already. But when we do sin, we do so in the knowledge that we are working against God’s will in our lives so we should not expect too much reward!

We work for a fair wage, or at least we expect to be able to work for a fair wage. If we have eternity to look forward to then should we expect to be willing to work for as long as God requires it? It is a fair question and one that we all have to face, but one that God will answer differently for each of us. We are all different and we can all achieve different things. Being willing to work is the key here and not how much work we can actually do. God will use us when He needs us, we just have to stay willing at all times.

Points to Ponder:
Do you work for God?

Are you willing to work for Him?