Good morning, friends.
Our verse for today comes from Genesis 30:20, “And Leah said, ‘God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.’ So she called his name Zebulun.”
Competition is good. Our economy is driven by it and the free market. The ability for the consumer to select and purchase however they prefer generates competition between the available suppliers for that coveted dollar, and this competition supposedly increases the quality of the product while driving down the cost to the consumer. Children are good. The Bible says that they are blessings from God, and that they bring happiness to the man who has many. They were part of the mandate from God in order to fill the earth with a race that worships Him. And so, imagine the happiness that God will enjoy when He looks out across heaven and welcomes the billions of children He has gathered through the ages. Having children as a competition, however, is not good. But when sisters Leah and Rachel married the same man one week apart, I’m not sure anything else could have been expected from them. The culture of that day was so deeply rooted in the family, God’s favor so visibly expressed through the blessings of children, that a battle was bound to occur.
So it was only natural that each sister wanted to bear more children than the other, and since Leah knew that Rachel was Jacob’s preferred, she found a rare pleasure in outdoing her younger sister in something. And as the competition turned fierce, each wife introduced their handmaiden into the equation, using them to increase their numbers and improve their status. As if bigamy wasn’t bad enough. Misplaced competition, although usually excused as intensity or ambition, is a destructive force that affects much more widely than just between siblings. Selfish pride is at its heart, and we within the body of Christ are no more immune to it than anyone else. We label it with a spiritual moniker and disguise it as seeking God’s will, but it ultimately strokes our own feathers and fails to love as Christ loved the church. And it usually fails to love one individual at a time. So let the cross be the finish line for your competition. Lift Christ up as the ultimate winner.
As we seek Him today, ask God to show you if you are in a competition that shouldn’t be waged. Ask Him for the grace and humility to let go of your own team.
Have a great Monday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
