From Ordinary to Extraordinary

Read Genesis 26:34-28
 
Genesis 28:16-17 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
 
GOD is very gracious and purposeful. We have read in his story to this point that he is far from perfect. In fact his name means “one who grabs by the heel” or “one who trips up”. It also mean appropriately, “Deceiver.” This becomes Jacob’s character, didn’t it? From bargaining with Esau for his birthright to deceiving his father Isaac for his father’s blessing, he has lied and plotted to take advantage of others. He is not someone you’d trust with a handshake and his word.
   Now Jacob’s life is in jeopardy because of this deceit. Yet, God enters into Jacob’s life to affirm this son of Isaac is God’s next chosen “father” to form Israel! In one of the Bible’s great contrasts, Jacob is not a man to make a true covenant. Yet, God makes a covenant with him. Throughout the remaining 22 chapters of Genesis, we will read of Jacob’s story that establish him as the direct father of Israel’s 12 tribes.
   Why would God create Jacob to be of a sinful character and then transform his life? But isn’t that how God works? Perhaps you know someone whom God has dramatically changed from  a life of deceit, into a life of promise and peace, just as Jacob would one day know. Perhaps the first place to look for such a person is to ourselves. Is your life new because you confess Jesus? Are you Seeing yours and others’ lives changed with God’s Word is evidence God is at work. We each can praise God he has chosen us who are born in sin to overcome sin, so we will confess, “Surely the Lord is in this place!”
   To this point in Genesis, we have read of sin’s destruction and God’s salvation. Through Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob comes the foundational truth that from the beginning it is by God’s grace mankind has been saved from destruction. Each person in Scripture, and the three foundational fathers – the patriarchs – of Israel were ordinary, sinful men without merit. But I AM chose them. He went to them to call them into extraordinary lives. They became his faithful workmen, his partners and ambassadors to be the means of God’s plan to fulfill his Kingdom purposes.
   You are the same: ordinary in the world, called to be extraordinary in the Kingdom of God. Open your faith to the potential of dramatic change in your life. You will know God’s loving care to point you to a full life with him.
 
Praise God. He has shown you the way to heaven.