Get the Connection, Pay the Price
“So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.” Genesis 29:30
This is a verse that like most verses in the Bible reads so easy. But when you think about what actually happened, when you think about the attitude this person had, you think about what he did, how he worked, how he served, how he then got kicked in the head, was denied his promise, what would you do?
You should remember this story. This man had a vision and he wanted this Rachel. He had a love, a connection. We need a love, a connection, actually, to God and the Word of God, to the vision. It depends on your connection as to how much you will pay. The normal Christian has basically no connection. They come on Sunday morning. If you are lucky they come regularly, and that’s it. They have no real connection, and because they have no connection there is no real willingness to change, no willingness to pay the price. Because that is actually what Sunday morning is about.
If I was to ask you what Sunday morning was about, in one word - actually what the preaching is about, because the praise and worship is about worshipping God, lifting him up, glorifying God, the offering is about giving money, but what is the preaching about? What is the preaching actually supposed to do? The preaching is supposed to cause us to change. The Bible, the preaching is about change. If not totally, it is partly. Partly the preaching is about pointing the finger, it is about pointing the finger saying “That’s wrong. What you do is wrong, your attitude is wrong. That needs to change!” That is what the preaching is about.
This verse says that Jacob served another seven years. He was tricked. How would you react if you were tricked? I can guarantee you, you would be mad. I can guarantee you, we are so far from this verse, we don’t even have the right to read it. He was tricked! I mean, if people are even a little bit mistreated they leave. Seven years to get that vision, to get that degree, to get that job, to get that person, work seven years because of a promise, and when the seven years were over, the father just looked at him and laughed. He said , “Neah. Do another seven.”
You would be mad! What about the Academy students, the ones that are here that are going to start next year, the ones that are going for the second year? What about the ones that just graduated? They worked three years. Not a long time, but still, three years - worked, sacrificed, did what they were told, served, served God, served the church, because they had that heart, that vision, that connection. Then the three years is up, it is time to get their degree? What would they do if we just said, “Oh, sorry. It will now cost you another three years.”
Will they do it? Probably not. They’d run home to Mummy, to Daddy, to wife. They’d say, “They tricked me, they mistreated me. They promised me something they did not do. They said, ‘If I worked three years, I’d get a degree, I’d get ordained, I would become a Pastor, I would get money. And I did all that, believed their word, and now they say, ‘Oh, sorry, another three years!’”
I mean, you would leave the church so fast it would make the chairs spin. But this guy didn’t do that. What is that for an attitude? How far are we from that attitude? He was lied to, he was tricked, he was told three years, seven years! Seven years of your life, and now he has to work another seven years! So actually we have nothing to complain about, nothing to gripe about. Another seven years!
