{"id":16149,"date":"2021-06-09T22:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T05:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_26_23-35-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-06-06T16:52:53","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T23:52:53","slug":"genesis_27_1-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_27_1-14\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Direction You\u2019re Considering Is A Wrong Shortcut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 27:1-14 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 27:1-14.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 27:1-14 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now then, get your weapons–your quiver and bow–and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back,
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau,
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0before I die.’
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-14:\u00a0\u00a0Isaac, up in years and eager to give his blessing to his firstborn son Esau before he dies, tells Esau to prepare his favourite meal so that he can give Esau his blessing.\u00a0\u00a0Rebekah overhears Isaac\u2019s plan, thinks about the fact that the older twin Esau was always meant to serve the younger twin Jacob.\u00a0\u00a0So Rebekah decides to take matters into her own hands.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of trying to reason with her husband Isaac as to why their firstborn Esau should not get the blessing, Rebekah chooses a dishonest, deceitful shortcut approach to trying to secure the blessing for her younger son Jacob.\u00a0She thought, \u201cI\u2019ll just go behind Isaac\u2019s back and trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing instead of Esau.\u201d While it is true that in the short-term Rebekah would get what she wanted, her plan also led to several painful long-term consequences that Rebecca never intended:<\/p>\n

First, Rebekah\u2019s marriage would suffer, since undoubtedly by deceiving her husband Isaac Rebekah would lose much of her husband\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n

Second, Rebekah\u2019s reputation would suffer.\u00a0\u00a0Nowadays when people think of this Rebecca they often see her as someone who deceived others.<\/p>\n

Third, her relationship with her older son would suffer.\u00a0\u00a0Esau would feel betrayed by his own mother and would lose respect for her.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From then on, Esau would do things just to spite his parents.<\/p>\n

Fourth, the relationship between her sons would suffer.\u00a0\u00a0They would go from not getting along to Esau plotting to kill Jacob.<\/p>\n

Fifth, Rebekah\u2019s own relationship with Jacob also suffer.\u00a0\u00a0Rebecca took this shortcut because she wanted to save and protect Jacob.\u00a0\u00a0Yet because of this shortcut, Rebecca had to send Jacob away and never got to see Jacob again.\u00a0\u00a0By taking a wrong shortcut, Rebecca ended up losing the very person she was trying to protect.<\/p>\n

Rebekah of course meant well.\u00a0\u00a0She was trying to protect her younger son and his destiny.\u00a0\u00a0But because she took a wrong shortcut instead of trusting God, everyone suffered as a result.\u00a0\u00a0Her shortcut turned out to be the long way around.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Her clever plan turned out to be a very foolish thing.\u00a0\u00a0Though she knew God\u2019s will, she didn\u2019t act God\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

This story is meant to teach us that when you take a wrong shortcut, the long-term damage will outweigh the short-term benefit.\u00a0\u00a0Is there a situation where you are tempted to take a wrong shortcut?<\/p>\n

If we really want God\u2019s blessing, we need to do God\u2019s will in God\u2019s way.\u00a0\u00a0The end does not always justify the means.<\/p>\n

How do you know if you are taking a wrong shortcut?\u00a0\u00a0Ask yourself:\u00a0\u00a0does the shortcut I\u2019m considering require that I lie or cheat?\u00a0\u00a0Does the shortcut require that I go back on commitments I have made?\u00a0\u00a0Have I prayed about going in this direction?\u00a0\u00a0Have I gotten advice about going in this direction?\u00a0\u00a0Am I basing my decision on fear instead of faith?<\/p>\n

Instead of taking wrong shortcuts, what should you do?\u00a0\u00a0Trust God to provide in His way and in His time.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, I pray that I would not take immoral shortcuts but that I would trust You to work things out in Your way and in Your time.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for showing me that if I take a wrong shortcut, I might in the short-term get I want, but the long-term problems that will result will not be worth it.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 27:1-14.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 27:1-14 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Now then, get your weapons–your quiver and bow–and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”……<\/p>\n

On verses 1-14:\u00a0\u00a0Isaac, up in years and eager to give his blessing to his firstborn son Esau before he dies, tells Esau to prepare his favourite meal so that he can give Esau his blessing.\u00a0\u00a0Rebekah overhears Isaac\u2019s plan, thinks about the fact that the older twin Esau was always meant to serve the younger twin Jacob.\u00a0\u00a0So Rebekah decides to take matters into her own hands.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of trying to reason with her husband Isaac as to why their firstborn Esau should not get the blessing, Rebekah chooses a dishonest, deceitful shortcut approach to trying to secure the blessing for her younger son Jacob.\u00a0She thought, \u201cI\u2019ll just go behind Isaac\u2019s back and trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing instead of Esau.\u201d While it is true that in the short-term Rebekah would get what she wanted, her plan also led to several painful long-term consequences that Rebecca never intended:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16149"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16150,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16149\/revisions\/16150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}