Genesis 27:1-40
To be trusted is one of the most important things we have in life. Being trustworthy means that our spoken word carries great weight in other people’s decisions. Being trustworthy means we can be counted on to do what we say we will do. Being trustworthy means we will deal with the financial matters of life in a safe and secure way.
The summer I was seventeen, I went to work in a textile mill. Another young man came to work at the mill some months later. We became friends and did some things together, but he had a problem. We got paid on Friday and on Saturday he would go to the pool hall and lose most of his week’s earnings. He would borrow money from me to eat until he got paid again on Friday. At first, he paid me back when he got paid, but as time went on, he would only pay a part of what he owed. He would say that he would catch up next week. I told him that if he would stay away from the pool hall, he would have money to pay me. He made a part payment one time with a new pair of leather gloves. Another time he made a payment with something I still have and enjoy; Nat King Cole’s long-play album, “Unforgettable.” I love the old album that I got more than 60 years ago as a payment on a debt.
As time passed it got worse, however, and he did not have any money to pay anything toward what he owed. It cost me a friend because I could no longer trust him to do what he said he would do. I think about the friend that is now no longer living on earth and how he destroyed our friendship because he could not be trusted to do what he said he would do. One of the songs that Nat sings on the album is “For Sentimental Reasons.” It causes me to remember my friend as he could have been.
In our scripture lesson, it speaks about a family that was broken because they no longer could trust each other.
“One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said ‘My son.’
‘Yes, Father’, Esau replied.
‘I am an old man now’, Isaac said, ‘and I don’t know when I may die. Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare my favorite dish and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.’
But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game she said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I overheard your father say to Esau, ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ Now my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flock, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.’
‘But look,’ Jacob replied to Rebekah, ‘My brother is a hairy man and my skin is smooth. What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.’
But his mother replied, ‘Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go and get the goats for me.’
So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal just the way Isaac liked it. Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes which were there in the house and gave them to her younger son, Jacob. She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats. Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread. So Jacob took the food to his father. ‘My father’, he said.
‘Yes, my son’, Isaac answered, ‘Who are you – Esau or Jacob?’
Jacob replied, ‘It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sat up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.’”
As you read the rest of the story in the scriptures, the scheme did work, but the cost was very high. It destroyed the trust in the family. The family would never be the same. Esau would plan to kill his brother when his father died. Rebekah had wanted Jacob to be the head of the family, but she would lose both sons. She had to send Jacob away to her brother. Jacob would live with his uncle that could not be trusted. Isaac could not trust his family for the rest of his life. Actions that are not trustworthy will destroy a family, a marriage, a friendship, or a business.
God can be trusted to do what he tells us he will do. God never changes. His law never changes. His plan of salvation never changes. His plan was, and is, the cross of Jesus. God’s judgment and God’s love can be trusted.
When we Christians in the church start to put our trust in the ways and ideas of other humans, we have broken trust in the eternal God that never changes. If God has called something a sin, or evil, you can trust him that it is a sin or evil.
The world is filled with people in word and action like Lucy in the Peanuts comic strip. Lucy will never let Charlie Brown kick the football.
Lucy asked Charlie, “Do you like jokes and riddles?”
Charlie answers, “I guess.”
Lucy says, “I have a riddle for you Charlie Brown. What are three things in life that are certain?”
Charlie responds, “Death, and taxes?”
Lucy says, “That’s only two.”
Charlie says, “You’re right, hmmm. I know what the third one is, but I just can’t seem to think of it. Don’t tell me. Rats, I seem to have a mental block or something.” Then Charlie starts running to kick the football and he is saying, “So aggravating.”
Lucy snatches up the football and as Charlie lands on his back he is saying, “Now I remember!”
Lucy said to him, “It was so obvious, Charlie Brown.”
When we trust the ways of the world, it will produce the Lucy effect on our lives. The God we meet in Jesus can be trusted with our lives for He has made our lives and He loves each life and wants the very best for each one of us. The question we must ask ourselves is whether we trust God for life and forgiveness? Another question is whether we trust something other than God for our blessings?
Your answer will decide where and how you will spend eternal life.
