Properly Honored

Scripture: Then he commanded them and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah." Genesis 49:29-31

Observation: Jacob (Israel) gives deathbed instructions on his burial - that he is to be buried not in Egypt but his the family tomb. He calls out that therefore the people who will be buried there will be the patriarchs and their wives: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and himself and ... Leah.

Jacob worked 14 years in order to "earn" the right to marry Rachael. In the ensuing battle for his affections between Leah and Rachael, he eventually fathered children by four women, but his two favorites were always Rachael's children - Joseph, and then Benjamin. Throughout this, Leah openly declares that she is unloved, lamenting the situation and at least once paying her sister off just so she can sleep with her own husband once more. However, in the end, it is Leah - the first wife, mother of the oldest sons, mother of Judah, and mother of the most sons - who is buried in the place of honor with Israel.

Application: I believe this passage indicates that Leah earned Jacob's love. He may not have loved her like he did Rachael in his youth, but in his old age she was the one whom he would eventually self-identify as his wife and the one worthy of honor in the tomb of the patriarchs.

This is the way I wish to metaphorically look upon my sinful past life. There were things in my old life that I loved - behaviors, thoughts, and people who were not good to have in my life. However, as I have learned, those things pale in comparison to the blessings of God and a happy life spent attempting to honor his will. That said, I still look too kindly on the memories. I have been forgiven for my past transgressions, and it is important that I expunge them from my mind in both their good and bad forms.

Instead, I need to honor God, and honor the amazing things he has brought into my life. I also need to honor the great work he hands me from time to time ... often hard work, often thankless work, maybe even 'ugly' work (can work have "weak eyes" like Leah?) ... but great work worthy of my honor through devotion to it. I now love God and love serving his people. In time I will love more people - seeing them as creations of God worthy of my love - as Jacob learned to love Leah through his maturing relationship with God and an understanding of the great work God was doing in his life.

Prayer: Lord, my sin life needs to be like Rachael - something I loved at one time, but now something dead and not to be returned to. My life with Jesus needs to be like Leah - loved in my mature life of understanding, properly honored, and the results of which I know will be amazing great like Judah's prophesy. Amen.