In the last post, I talked about the true source of beauty. We talked about the light of Jesus shining through us with a wonderful radiance. I also spoke of several women of the bible who were called beautiful, one of which was Rebekah. If you'll look back at the account of Isaac and Rebekah and how they were brought together (Genesis 24), you'll see a portrait of kindness and innocence come together to fulfill God's plan for Isaac. You see, Abraham wanted to find a wife for his son, Isaac. He sent his servant to do so. His servant worshipped God in the same way his master did. He prayed a very specific prayer that God would show him the right woman for Isaac by bringing forth someone generous enough to not only offer a drink of water to him but also to his camels. And by offering water to his camels, she was going far beyond what was expected of her by societal standards. Rebekah was that kind, beautiful woman.
Rebekah and Isaac loved the Lord as they were taught. She didn't hesitate when she knew she was being called to marry Isaac as she went immediately and gathered her belongings. However, after the two were married, conceived and gave birth to twins, Jacob and Esau, something changed within them. Their focus shifted. Very early on in their children's lives, Rebekah chose to favor Jacob and Isaac chose to favor Esau. My guess would be that Esau liked to hunt like his father and so the two had much in common. Unfortunately, Rebekah and Issac made their favoritism known between the sons. Without going into the entire story over the feud of the birthright, I'll tell you that the boys went far beyond normal sibling rivalry. Because of the parents favoritism, they grew to hate each other. What should have been a loving, close knit family, became a group of individuals each with their own agenda. Covetousness, jealousy, deceit, trickery, malice, and murderous thoughts emerged.
Unfortunately, this can happen to any of us. Satan loves to tear apart families. How is this best accomplished? Our priorities shift. We take our focus off Christ and we look inward to ourselves. The minute our focus shifts, we give Satan all the foothold he needs to begin his handiwork. Then, the destruction takes root.
We've all been guilty at some point of shifting our focus, whether in big or small ways. However, we cannot grow weary and cannot lose hope. When we do that, our choices will not align with God and are sure to cause destruction. Look at Rebekah, her beautiful giving nature became a downward spiral of deceit and trickery when her focus shifted. In the end, she mourned the consequences of her choices.
Where's your focus right now? How would others characterize your life? Do you have issues with anger, unforgiveness, pride, deceit, hypocrisy, selfishness, envy etc? You've lost your focus. Or maybe you need to evaluate even further and make sure you've indeed surrendered to Christ. Whatever the case, don't allow the things of Satan characterize your life. If you need to forgive someone, if you need to ask forgiveness, if you need to shelf your pride, or bite your tongue, or stop coveting what others have or who they are, draw strength from the Lord to make it right-- now. These things are robbing you and God of the fruitful life He commands of you. If you long to experience His presence in your life like never before, the first step is one of obedience. After you take that step, your prayer life will take on a whole new meaning. Your relationship with Him will reach a level you never imagined.
Your relationship in Christ can be summed up by a favorite old hymn of mine:
Heavenly Father, unfortunately, it's sometimes easy for us to allow our focus to shift. Father, forgive us. We know how this hurts you. We're selfish. We often want what we think is best for us with little regard for You. Our priorities are all wrong in those times, Lord. Convict us to return to You lest we face the consequences of our poor choices. God if there are any reading who've never made the choice to trust in the name of Your Son, convict them. I pray they would feel Your presence and want to know You. Father, if there are those reading who've made selfish decisions, at odds with others, have unforgiving hearts, or need to ask forgiveness of another but have allowed pride to hinder them, convict them to turn back to You and repent. Cleanse us. Renew us. Mold us. I pray we would be like clay in Your mighty Potter's hands. You created us in Your image. May we be a reflection of You as such. I love you, Lord. I bow before You and ask forgiveness where I haven't heeded your commands or where I've allowed selfishness to enter in. I confess it to You and ask that You continue to grow me. This life is not about me or anything that I want. It's all about You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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