Grace and Jacob

What did Jacob do that was so great? In John 4, the woman at the well asked Jesus if he was greater than their father Jacob, who had dug the well. Apparently, that was the way to humble someone back then - ask if they're greater than Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel, after which the people of Israel, obviously, were named. So, what made him so great? He withstood the temptation to respond in kind to Laban and cheat to accomplish the injustice he'd been denied. But he didn't respond in kind because he believed God would act on his behalf, which He did. So, Jacob didn't act. He wrestled with the man before he met with Esau in order to be blessed by God. Jacob again didn't act to attack or defend himself against Esau; therefore, he won by not doing something, but by only believing. What about his bargaining with Esau? He did that because he knew God had already given it to him. That's what God had told his mother. So what did Jacob do that was so great?

Jacob simply believed. He believed because God had chosen him to be the chosen patriarch after Abraham and Isaac. Jacob acted or didn't act because he believed that God already had his back before he ever did anything right or wrong. So, are you chosen by God? Then believe it, act like it. It's already accomplished. You can bargain for what you already have been given. You can trust God to take vengeance when you're persecuted. You can trust God to protect you from your enemies. "When a man's ways please the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him." Proverbs. Jacob's life was amazing only because his God is amazing. He accomplished some of the most amazing miracles in Jacob's life - Joseph's rise from slavery and prison to the chief place in the most powerful nation on earth, the vision of the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of God, and the wrestling with the man when Jacob's hip was disjointed. Believe that the God who sent His own Son for you has already set up the amazing destiny you have, and then live like you believe it.