Living True

DEVOTION

GENESIS

LIVING TRUE

Gen 27:11-27

11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing." 13 His mother said to him, "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me." 14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. 18 He went to his father and said, "My father." "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?" 19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing." 20 Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The LORD your God gave me success," he replied. 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not." 22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "I am," he replied. 25 Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me." 27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

NIV

The deception is complete. Rebekah is certainly complicit in this deceitful act of Jacob, in fact she is the instigator of it. At first Jacob was not sure he could pull it off because of the great physical differences between himself and his brother Esau. Rebekah had that all considered and made him to smell and feel as his brother so Isaac would not know it was him, even though their voices were different. All this was to get the blessing intended for the firstborn. The point of all this was Jacob trying to portray himself to be someone he wasn’t for personal gain. What a lesson to learn. It is easy to create a persona for others. This is the way we behave, talk etc. with other people that causes them to see us as a particular kind of person. This persona is the image or personality that we present to other people. This is much like a façade, if not the same thing. The point is that we want people to think well of us and so we try to make them think we are the kind of person they want us to be. We have said before, we are not who we think we are, we are not who you think we are, but we are who we think you think we are. Isaac was expecting Esau, Jacob tried to become as Esau because that is what Isaac was expecting. Sometimes other Christians think we should behave and talk as Christians and almost be perfect people without sin. So, at least when we are in church, we attempt to act and talk in the manner they expect us to, even though we are not as perfect as we present ourselves. Are we different people depending on who we are with because of their idea of who we should be? Are we a chameleon in some sense, changing with our social environment? We should be someone who what people see is what people get and what they see is who we really are, a sinner saved by grace. Jacob was not able to keep up the lie, as Esau showed up then Isaac knew he had been deceived, but as far as the blessing was concerned he had already given it to Jacob. Do we present ourselves in a better light then we should in order to make some personal gain, such as with an employer, or even in church? Is this kind of behavior the result of us thinking more highly of ourselves then we should, or rather knowing we are not as we say we are, putting on that façade, that persona so as to gain some position or status within our social, economic or spiritual lives? We are who we are and that is who we should be. True, we are endeavoring to be more like Christ in our lives, and that is a process that will take our entire life. Although that will bring about changes in our being and we will be, or should be, in a constant state of transformation, our basic personality will most likely remain the same. This is the portion of who we are that needs to be the same in all situations in life. Yes, we take on the traits of Christ in our interactions with others and that does created those changes and maybe even in our personality or at least in our behaviors and responses to situations in life. But we cannot pretend to be someone we are not. Surely at some point in time we will be found out, in this life by people, in the time after this life, by God. We all have failings and shortcomings and we should, at least, be able to confess that first to God, and then to others. This is not to say we should expound on each and every sin in our lives, but at least live the truth of not being a perfect person. We need to allow the Spirit more access to our inner self, to do the work he began and bring it to completion. But it is up to us to allow him access, for we can suppress him. So let us live as who we are. Sinners saved by grace, working in concert with the Spirit to become more like Christ.