# 291 I,Me My, Mine

The Book of Genesis

Day 291

Ge 31:43 And Laban answered and said to Jacob, "These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne?  44 "Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me."  45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.  46 Then Jacob said to his brethren, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap.

Jacob has just ticked off all his charges against Laban and let us note Laban’s response. “My daughters, my children, my flock, and all you see is mine.” “My, my, my , mine.” Kind of sums up Laban’s philosophy of life doesn’t it? This is the mantra of those who are of the world. Whereas, the mantra of the Christian is to be You, You, You, Yours! All glory goes to God, and all that we have, children, grandchildren, flocks, and anything else belongs to God!

De 10:14 says, "Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it.”

And Ps 24:1, “The earth is the LORD'S, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.”

This is one of the most liberating truths that man can know and believe! It sets you free from the sin of covetousness. This is the sin that so deeply gripped Laban and look what he ended up with in the end………nothing!

There is no further recorded contact between Jacob’s family and his relatives in Mesopotamia! Laban never sees his children or grandchildren again. This is typically what happens when we fall in love with the grass that appears greener on the other side, and isn’t that what covetousness boils down to? 

Although they end their relationship on friendly terms, this covenant is not so much about peace as it is about not crossing a boundary. This is a marker that stands forever as a witness between “My, my, my, mine, and You, You, You, Yours.”

What side of the marker are you on? Will you travel on with Jacob to the Promised Land, or return to the godless world of Laban, utterly consumed over things that will eventually perish?

Jas 4:4 says, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

The marker is set, one leads to life, the other leads to death: Jos 24:15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."