Bible in a Year, Day 19: God's Grace Is Bigger Than Our Sin

Today's reading

Today we read Genesis 27, where Jacob deceives his blind father Isaac to receive the blessing meant for Esau.

Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.”

(Genesis 27:19, WEB)

Reflection

Pastor Jack Graham calls this one of the strangest stories in the Bible. It makes us squirm because it is so full of lies and deception. Isaac was old and blind, and he asked Esau to hunt game so he could give him the blessing.

Rebecca overheard, and she had a plan. She dressed Jacob in Esau's clothes, covered his arms with goatskins, and sent him in with a meal. When Jacob hesitated, afraid his father would touch him and know the truth, she told him to let the curse fall on her. As Pastor Jack put it, "She was trying to force the hand of god."

Here is the mystery he points out. God had already said that the older would serve the younger. The blessing was always meant for Jacob, and yet, in Pastor Jack's words, "Jacob didn't trust God to deliver it." So he lied to get what God had already promised. Esau wept bitterly when he found out, and the blessing could not be taken back.

God did not cancel his plan. He kept working through a broken, scheming family. Jacob's name means the cheat, or the heel catcher, and he lived up to it that day. Still, Pastor Jack says, "God's grace is bigger than our sin." When we fail, God remains faithful and forgives us when we ask.

That grace comes with a warning. "Just because god works through our failures doesn't mean he approves of our sin." Jacob would spend the next 20 years on the run, from his brother and from God, reaping what he sowed.

Pastor Jack closes with Jesus, the true blessing from God. He did not scheme or deceive. He obeyed even to death, and through him we receive a blessing no one can steal.

Take it with you

• Where are you tempted to help God along with a shortcut, when you could wait for what he has promised?
• If you are living with the results of a past failure, you can ask forgiveness today, because God stays faithful.
• Remember that you receive the blessing through Jesus, so you do not have to earn or steal it.

Prayer

Lord, you see the times we have tried to force our own way instead of trusting your promise. Forgive us for the lies we tell and the shortcuts we take. Thank you that your grace is bigger than our sin, and that you stay faithful when we fail. Teach us to wait on you and to take responsibility for our choices. Thank you for Jesus, who obeyed even to death so that we could receive a blessing no one can take away. Amen.