“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey…give me food to eat and clothes to wear …then the Lord will be my God and this stone…as a pillar will be God’s house,…all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” Genesis 28:20-22 NIV
In today’s story, Jacob is on his way to find a wife. He stopped where he was on the road when the sunset. Using a stone for a pillow, he slept for the night. He had a dream in his sleep. He saw a stairway with angels ascending and descending. God is standing at the top of the stairs; He gives Jacob a blessing. When Jacob wakes up, he realizes God is with Him. He takes the stone he used as a pillow and makes a pillar to God. The pillar is a physical representation of the vow Jacob makes in today’s scripture.
Jacob asks God for 3 things: safe travels, food and clothes. Jacob doesn’t ask God for comfort. He doesn’t ask Him for a donkey. He doesn’t ask God for money, or better stature in life. He asks God for the basic necessities he will need for his trip. In America, we take the basic necessities for granted. God has blessed our nation abundantly. The majority of Americans have a roof over their head and food in their pantries. We take for granted the blessings in our life, not satisfied with what we have. Our definition of necessity has changed since Jacob’s days. Necessity isn’t food, clothes and safety in America. Necessity has become not having enough
Necessity has become not having enough.
My husband and I are RV’ers. We love to go for weeks at a time, living in our trailer. One of the reasons we love camping, it reminds of us of what we don’t need. We don’t need 2 bathrooms. We don’t need cable television or wifi. When we are camping, we’re more grateful for what we do have. We’re grateful to have a place to take shelter when it rains. We’re grateful for the food we have. We realize we don’t need a packed closet of clothes, we just need enough. And we’re grateful for enough.
Agur, son of Jakeh, gives us insight into what is enough. “…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:7-9 NIV). Enough is our daily bread, according to Agur, that is all we need. We live in the land of plenty, our daily bread overflows. We have more than enough, we just don’t recognize it.
Question of the Day:
What does enough mean to you?
Further Reading: Genesis 28:1-29:35 NIV, Matthew 9:18-38 NIV, Psalm 11:1-7 NIV, Proverbs 3:11-12 NIV
