Day 2 - Much harder than Day 1.

Lexi woke up at 6am, the same time my alarm started going off. We ended up cuddling until around 7. Then we made Jacob breakfast and sent him off to work. Now it's a little after 8am and she is OUT! Impromptu naps are never a bad thing. :)

So where am I today? Genesis 34 & 35

Quick Synopsis:

Chapter 34 deals with the violation of Dinah, Jacob and Leah's daughter, and how her brother's handle the situation. The man that violates Dinah wants desperately to marry her. So Jacob's family makes a deal with the offending family. If all the males in their area are circumcised, then Dinah will become Shechem's (the violator) wife. Three days after the men are circumcised though, two of Jacob's sons go into the city and kill every single male.

This isn't the greatest of all Bible stories, and surely not one you share with your young children, but it teaches a great lesson in my opinion. Jacob and his children have the Lord's blessing. They are His people. God knows their hearts, and all the anger and revenge they plotted and the countless murders they committed that day. Yet he loves them and claims them as His own.

No matter what my sin, I know that God loves me and is calling me to Him. There is no hierarchy to sin, so their murders that day are no worse than my gossiping. Sin is sin, and God HATES sin. And yet, he wants me as his follower, and loves me. That's extremely powerful.

In chapter 35 Jacob goes back to Bethel to build an alter for God and while there God changes his name to Israel (35:9). Then Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, and Isaac dies at 180 years old.

This is just another example of how the Lord takes us as we are - full of sin, living life as we wish - and makes us into what He wants for His glory. Jacob was just another man. He was not innocent, or special in any other way than the simple fact that God had chosen him.

So what do I take away from all of this? I am a sinner. BUT God can work through me if I open my heart to Him and His will for my life. I am blessed through His love and unending mercy! And every day is an opportunity for me to become a new version of myself for His purposes. I am in a constant state of renewal, being open to Christ's call for my life, just like Jacob was washed away for God's creation, Israel.

Now that's cool !