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I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant;

Genesis 32:10

I’ve learned new words in this time such as “tertiary.” “Tertiary” COVID-19 cases are those which are transmitted second-hand. If John Doe tests positive and John Smith (having gone fishing with him last week) catches it from him, Mrs. Smith’s subsequent positive is a “tertiary” case, sourced from John Doe. Now, ultimately, every case after “Patient Zero” is tertiary or second-hand. I was thinking yesterday and this morning about things that are received second-hand, and I came across Jacob’s prayer in Genesis 32.

Jacob praises God for the mercies and truth which have been shown to him. Who showed him these things? He didn’t have a pastor, a commentary, or even the written Word. He didn’t have a personal mentor, a discipleship program, or accountability partner. All Jacob had was God, and he understood God to have personally taught him. Truly, we are all shown the mercies of God personally. Lamentations 3 reminds us that His mercies are new every morning. “Mercies,” we should note, is not only the restraint of just punishment, but acts of loving kindness. God provides, protects, and guides us each day whether we are actively aware or not.

Though I receive His mercies personally every day, do I receive His truth personally every day? What does that look like? It means not relying on a devotional as a primary source of God’s revelation. It means not relying on a commentary or even the preaching/teaching of another. Those things are very supplementary (where they are sound and rightly dividing) but can never replace God’s personal instruction to us on a daily basis.

Lord help me to devote myself more and more to your Word as my primary source of instruction so that I can praise You as Jacob did many years ago.

-C.R.

“… and he forget that which thou hast done to him…”

Genesis 27:45

Memory is not our best faculty. I’m sure you’ve heard somebody say “if memory serves me well,” followed by some incorrect retelling of the past.

In Genesis 27:43-45 Rebekah is planning to send Jacob away because Esau is plotting to kill him. Her instincts tell her that “time heals all things” and she explains to her son that he needs to leave until Esau forgets “that which thou hast done to him.”

But wait a minute, that’s not how I remember it. Just a little while earlier Rebekah was telling her son to deceive his father in order to receive the blessing of the firstborn. When Jacob pushes back against this risky idea in verse 12, she assures him in the following verse: “upon me be the curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go…” Rebekah takes responsibility for the plan and any potential fallout. Jacob is commanded to obey.

When there is fallout (and how was there not going to be?) Rebekah instructs her son to leave because of the things he did to his brother, thus shifting the blame and rewriting the narrative.

Here’s the point. Historical revisionism / misremembering / changing the story is common in our sin-plagued world. It shouldn’t be for a follower of Christ. We must be honest with ourselves and others and own our mistakes.

Memory will sometimes fail us in the mundane, but we must be careful to tell the truth.

-C.R.

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

Esther 2:7

Mordecai’s life could be described as a man who was consistently in the right place at the right time. His orphan cousin becomes queen, he happens to hear of a plot of the king, he eventually will be led about the city and honored publicly by Haman (who hates him deeply.) everything seems to work out for Mordecai.

It reminds me of Psalms 37:23 – The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

Perhaps it was not that Mordecai was in the right place at the right time, but rather he was the right man at the right time. Sometimes we are looking for better circumstances when what we really need is a better heart. The Lord can help us with that!

Psalms 51:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

-C.R.