Daily PresenceSample

My sister and I were not the kind of siblings who fought all the time. We got along surprisingly well. Despite this, there was one thing we could never agree on: who was the favorite child. Neither of us wanted to be titled as “the privileged child in the household'', so we would always deflect and say the other was the favorite. The truth is we always knew I was my mom’s favorite and she was my dad’s. We’ve agreed to it to this day. My parents would never agree to any biased affection towards us, but I know parents secretly have favorites. Don’t worry, if you’re a parent, your secret is safe with me!

While reading these passages of scripture, it's difficult to understand why in a million years is Jacob the favorite one? Jacob is deceitful, he steals, and he certainly wouldn’t win a person of the year award. When he is tricked by Laban, I get this warm cozy feeling inside of me that thinks he got what he deserved. Despite that, under Laban’s exploitation and trafficking Jacob still flourishes due to God’s grace and blessing.

God chose Jacob to be the carrier of his blessing for no particular reason other than grace. Yes, he was Isaac’s son, but Jacob didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t even his birthright. Paul says in Romans 9:10-18 that God blessed Jacob over Esau because he loved him. He was carrying the blessing of God that through Jesus Christ was extended to us (Gal 3:14).

Let me tell you something, just like Jacob, God chose us and we didn’t deserve it. It was not because of all our good deeds that Jesus went to die on a cross for our sins. It is despite our bad deeds that he does. It is because He loves us that he chose to continue to extend this blessing to us.