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Even when we are Sinful, God is Faithful (Genesis 31:17-24)

July 20, 2021 | by: Gregg Hunter | 0 comments

Posted in: Genesis 31

There are two truths that everyone knows intuitively: God is good, and I am not. Of course, many of us spend our lives denying these truths: we build up false ideologies trying to justify the false belief that, “I’m really not that bad;” we compare ourselves to people who are worse than us, while ignoring God altogether, and feel better about ourselves; we declare morality to be relative, so it’s impossible to say that I’m not good.

But, in those rare moments of quiet honesty, we all come to the conclusion that only God is truly good. I can’t even keep the relative standard of morality that I’ve created for myself. Deep down in our hearts, we all know these basic truths: that God exists; that God is pure and holy; and that we fall short of that standard.

Here’s the good news: even though we fall short of God’s standard, He remains good. Even though we commit some heinous atrocities, God still fights for our good. Even when we rebel against Him, God still works all things out for the good of those who love him.

If you have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, then you should desire to live your life in such a way that you honor Him in everything that you do. But, if you fall short, as we all do, then you can rest assured that God will not abandon you. God will never turn away those who have trusted in Him. He will continue to fight for you, always.

We see this played out in today’s Scripture passage.

 

Please read Genesis 31:17-24.

Jacob is known as a trickster. This was his primary sin before he met God, and it remains his primary sin after he met God. He never truly repents; he continues in his sin. Here, we see that Jacob again tricked Laban by not telling him that he intended to flee.

Laban now has every right to pursue after Jacob and punish him. This was his employee who was quitting his job without telling anyone. What’s more, this was his son-in-law who was fleeing with Laban’s daughters and grandchildren without so much as a goodbye.

Jacob is being unfaithful and Laban justly wants retribution.

But even when Jacob acts sinfully, God remains faithful.

God appears to Laban in a dream urging him not to attack Jacob, not to even speak to Jacob. God is protecting Jacob by reminding his adversary that the Lord God is on Jacob’s side. It doesn’t matter how sinfully Jacob acts, God is for him. And if God is for him, who can be against him?

What a wonderful encouragement for us today!

We are far too often like Jacob: we revert back to our sins and hurt the people around us. But, in Christ, there is no longer any condemnation for us. In Christ, we are forgiven of our sin. In Christ, we have an advocate who will fight for us.

God is on our side. Even when we are sinful, God remains faithful.

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