So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Genesis 29:20
How’s your week been so far? I’m rather pleased it’s Thursday, or, as Chris Evans always calls it, ‘Friday Eve’. After three weeks of holiday, it’s been a bit of a shock to the system returning to work this week, and I’m very pleased that the weekend is almost upon us. Every week for me seems like a roller coaster of intense action, so the opportunity to rest for a couple of days is always appreciated!
In today’s reading, we pick up the story of Jacob. You may remember, if you’ve followed our readings over the past couple of days, that Jacob deceived his father into giving him Esau’s blessing, before being sent to Paddan Aram to find a member of his mother’s family to marry. Our reading today finds him arriving, and meeting his relatives. He first meets Rachel, his cousin, and quickly falls in love, because she “had a lovely figure and was beautiful.” After a month, he asks Laban, his uncle, if he can marry Rachel. Jacob agrees to work for his uncle for seven years in exchange. As we see from today’s featured verse, those seven years flew by because he loved Rachel so much.
This verse reminds me that life can sometimes be rather too full of hard work. If we are Christians, though, we are called to work as if we are doing so for Jesus. Paul says in his letter to the Colossians:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Colossians 3:23-24).
Jacob was content to work hard for seven years on the understanding that he was give Rachel in return. We should also be content to work hard for we too will receive a reward; we will receive an inheritance as heirs with Christ of eternal life. Jacob’s reward might have been rather good, but ours is infinitely better (and Jesus will not trick us, as Laban tricked Jacob…). So let’s remember in the coming weeks to work hard in all that we do!