The Book of Genesis
Day 306
Ge 32:24 Then
Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of
day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not
prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of
Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
Many times, in the
Old Testament, we have these events involving physical encounters that are
meant to portray spiritual realities! In this case, Jacob physically wrestles
with a man whom he later realizes is God Himself! This event is a great picture of the
spiritual wrestling’s that take place in our own lives. We wrestle with God!
Jesus said in Mt
11:12 "And fro
m the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of
heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” The word,
“violence,” here carries with it the idea of
something being seized. I don’t need to stretch my imagination very far
to work the word “seized” into a wrestling situation. Wrestlers grapple. They
seize each other in strategic places in order to gain the upper hand.
What Jesus was
saying here, is that from the days of your personal repentance, (the days of
John The Baptist, when you began to
think differently about your life and desired to turn away from your way of
living and follow God’s way of living, ) you have had and will have wrestling’s
with God. Ga 5:17 reminds us of this very truth! “For the flesh lusts against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one
another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
Praise God for
those times! Though they may be tumultuous, they are proof positive that the
Spirit is at work in your life! Often the Spirit will seize us in strategic
places in order for us to learn a
spiritual truth. Be aware of that! Be looking for it, and be ready to be
corrected by it, for when you “give in” to the Spirit, another part of kingdom
living will be “seized” or “grasped” by
you!
God is a very
patient teacher. He does not weary. His desire is to conform us into the image
of His Son and every time he wrestles with us and we seize onto Him as Jacob
did, God will bless us and do yet another kingdom transformation in our lives!
A blessing awaits
you if you do!
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