Week 33, Day 4: What Goes Around…
Today’s Reading: Genesis 29:1-35
Some thoughts from the reading…
There is an old saying, “What goes around, comes around.” Basically, this means that if you mistreat someone, then eventually, that same treatment is going to come back to bite you. That is what happened to Jacob. He had deceived his brother, and his father to get what he wanted. But, when he made his way to Haran, where he went to find a wife, he was deceived by Laban. Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Jacob fell in love with the younger, Rachel. He agreed to work for Laban for 7 years if he could have Rachel for his wife. His love was so great for Rachel that the 7 years passed and seemed to Jacob as only a few days (Genesis 29:20). When the time came for Jacob to receive Rachel as his wife, Laban threw a party, and then sent Leah instead of Rachel into Jacob’s tent. Perhaps Jacob was drunk, or perhaps it was just too dark for him to see, but he didn’t realize that he had consummated his marriage to Leah instead of Rachel until the next morning! He had been deceived into taking the older daughter, because Laban could not marry off the younger before the older (Genesis 29:26). Laban did agree to give Jacob Rachel as well, but only after deceiving Jacob into marrying Leah.
This is an interesting concept. It should make us think about how we treat other people. If we are mean spirited, or deceitful to others, that will probably come back to haunt us. Others will tend to treat us the same way that we treat them. Of course, this does not mean that others will always treat us well if we are always acting right. However, people will tend to treat us well if we treat them well. This takes us back to Jesus’ teaching that has been called the “Golden Rule” in Matthew 7:12:
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Question: What else might we do to ensure that others treat us considerately?
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Cynthia said :
August 27, 2009 at 11:59 am
We should make sure we don’t seek revenge, and that we do good to others even if we are mistreated…Romans 12:17-21.