Vayetze "And he went out"
Genesis 28:10–32:3
Hosea 12:12–14:10
Mark 6-11

A Lasting Love

"Life would be real amazing if it was not so routine and familiar all the time." I hear this statement and many like it at special events and conferences I attend. We come together for a weekend or a week and have wonderful times of worship and teaching while the presence of our Father fills our lives. It is a taste of eternity that our spirits long for and desire to maintain. We love these special events and vow to not go back to our familiar ways of life, our routines and lack of closeness with Elohim, only to return home and go back to our familiar ways of life, routines and lack of closeness with Elohim.

Is the above a scenario one that has been played out in your life as well as mine? If we are honest with ourselves the answer is probably “yes.” We all have seen it and we all desire to overcome. We desire to walk out a life that is full, rich and filled with His presence on a daily basis. Is it even possible to approach such a life? If so how can it be achieved?

Let us first look to Jacob for our answer. It is with his love for Rachael that we begin. From the first moment Jacob laid eyes on this young girl he was not only in love, but he was head over heals in love with her. His only focus in life was to be with her and take her as his wife. Work seven years, work fourteen years or work an eternity, it did not matter to Jacob. He was with the one he loved so dearly. He never lost sight of his goal, which was to be with her in the land promised to him by his father and his God.
What a contrast the account of Jacob and Rachael is to our modern ways, even on a natural level. The thoughts today of living so close to a person for seven years, all the time longing for their presence with you are unthinkable in this modern, “I want it now” lifestyle. Life becomes hum-drum, not as exciting as that of a lover. Having to endure the trickery of Laban today would just be too much for us to bear. Who would have blamed Jacob if after a year or two of living in this situation he had simply walked away one day and said, this commitment is just too much to deal with? "I am out of here."

What kept Jacob is a simple, but complicated word. The word is love. Jacob loved Rachel in such a way that nothing could ever take her place. No matter how many years went by, no matter what the situations of life would bring, his every waking moment was consumed with one thought and one thought alone – his love for her. Every decision he would make would be made in light of his love for her. Nothing would be able to shake him from true love.

Maybe the lesson to consider from Jacob is to first question our true love. When we feel what such excitement during special events, but then go back into our usual life, might the reason be that we do not comprehend the love Jacob had? His love was focused and singular. Maybe ours is blurry and far more scattered than we dare to admit. Our love has peaks and valleys that come and go depending on how life seems to be treating us on any given day. When life is good we allow those times to steal some of our love away. Then difficult times come and our focus becomes clearer.

What is the solution to our dilemma? How do we put an end to the peaks and valleys? How do we love like Jacob loved? There really is no easy answer. It is not something which can be done by praying a certain number of hours each day or singing a certain number of worship songs. The number of verses or chapters of scripture we read daily cannot achieve it. It is not something that can come from the outside, it must come from within.

I believe that achieving the love for our Father that we so much desire comes from admitting to Him we do not have it. It comes from honestly looking to Him and admitting the things and even people in our lives which are getting in the way. It comes by asking Him to change the way we love, not from the outside, but from the inside.

The day Jacob saw Rachel, he fell in love with her at a level not humanly possible. He loved her so much that no amount of work for her would have been too much. This was a love that could only come from above, not from within the heart of a sinful man. The love we desire to love our Father with is not a work which we can do, but is a work He must do. It is a work in which He strips away all that we have placed in His way. It is a work that He does as He reveals Himself to us in our prayer, study and worship. It is a work He brings forth from within, not from without. It is a work of His grace in our lives.

What is our part? Sincere, stedfast desire. Desire to allow HaShem to work His will in our humble lives. Go back to Genesis 28:20-22. Jacob walked out into life with the clothes on his back and desire in his heart. It was that desire that HaShem saw and rewarded. And He was no better to Jacob than He will be to us, IF we model Jacob’s desire.