The Price Of Deception

Good Morning!! Jacob: "one who takes over, especially by tricky means." Laban would have called it a, perfect name, for his nephew. Jacob bribed his brother,...then deceived his father,...and later his uncle. A rock for a pillow couldn’t have been comfortable, but neither were Jacob’s inner contradictions. His life was out of joint. Like so many of us today, outwardly he looked to be well off,...but in relationships he was poverty-stricken.

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome."—Genesis 32:28 (NIV)

A life filled with half-truths and deceptions, eats away at our integrity. Jacob wrestles with God,...in the form of a man, and picks himself up from the desert sand with a new name,...Israel. In the exchange the God-man breaks his hip,...and blesses him. Like Jacob, we can at times be dishonest with ourselves, with others, and even with God. But such deception brings about anger,...and anger demands appeasement,...Israel attempted to appease his brother with many gifts. For us, only one appeasement will do, to mend our relationship with God. Jesus has provided it, through the bitter cross. HE appeased divine judgment against sin,...yours and mine.

Honest self-examination is painful, yet brokenness often lead to wholeness,
...and it gives birth to a restored relationships with God and others.

Father, make us whole, within and without. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"Remember, there is no problem too big for our God."