With Diligence

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

WITH DILIGENCE

Gen 31:38-42

38 "I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 39 I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. 40 This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41 It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you."

NIV

Following the continued discussion between Laban and Jacob after Laban had accused Jacob of stealing his gods, and seeking, did not find them. Although, it was Rachel who had deceived her father. Jacob reminded Laban how hard he worked for him for twenty years while he kept changing his wages. This was a difficult situation at best for Jacob even though during those years four women, bore him twelve children, eleven sons, and one daughter. Again, we cannot judge the way of life of the people of the past by the standards or laws of our time. Yet, that was his life, and now he wanted to head out and be his own man, with his own household. We are not sure how old Jacob was at this point. Some have tried to figure it out and estimate he was around seventy, however, the point here is not how old he was when he worked twenty years with diligence and honesty for his employer, even when Laban did not deal with him fairly. This could be our lesson, although some of us no longer work for someone else. However, if we are still employed by someone we have been admonished to work onto the Lord. Nevertheless, the true story is how we are in the employment of our Lord. Of course, we do not think of God as an employer, yet who is it that we are to serve? Is service not similar to employment? Should we not work diligently for the Kingdom of God and do so until we breathe our last? Of course, the men of the past lived longer, as we know Jacob lived a total of one hundred and forty when he died in Egypt. So we work on, doing that which God has called us and instructed us to do, perhaps in the manner of an employer, but, in reality, in the manner of our Lord and God, the highest power in the kingdom. Let us work with diligence until our end of days or our beginning of eternal days and God will be with us while rebuking those who mistreat us. But our task is to be diligent.