4. Jacob

Jacob has some great moments recorded in the Bible, from some shady dealings with his brother, to leading a massive family across huge spaces of land. Let’s just say he went to the school of life, and learnt the hard way.

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Idea 1: School of life

You must have heard the saying, and it goes something like this: What school did you go to? Oh, I went to the school of life! Basically what we are saying and hearing is, I lived a life like Jacob, did some stuff, got it wrong, hurt and got into a mess, found a way back and learnt lots in the process. 

What has the school of life taught you about who you are? What would you say life has taught you? When the mistakes came and the consequences and hopefully restoration happened, what has that taught you about you? 

How are you different now because of the lessons you’ve had in life’s playground? 

Idea 2: Identity

I think these questions you have just been thinking about are important because they form a backdrop or foundation to how we gain our identity and purpose. Think about Jacob for a moment. His name meant ‘deceiver’ and that was something he turned out to be good at. He tricked and cheated and paid a high price for it. It shaped him, and he allowed it to shape who he thought he was. 

I am Jacob, I deceive. That’s a bit rubbish I think. I also think that the school of life and its ups and downs can have a shaping on our identity too that actually isn’t good. A bit like a reinforcement for Jacob that he was only going to be the man his name suggested. 

• Can we break free from this stuff?
• What’s your identity? 
• How much positive identity do we carry? 
• How much negativity to our identity do we carry? 

It could be subtle too: you’re just a provider, keep earning … you’re just a protector, keep protecting …

Idea 3: Freedom

As dear old William Wallace cried as his innards got an airing, freedom from an identity that is shaped by mistakes can be found, fellas!  I think Jacob knew this, and in this week’s Bible reading you can see it and sense it. He wasn’t willing to let go of God, he needed something, a blessing, something! 

‘I am done carrying this, I am not letting go until you do something, God.’ 

Mistakes, chaos, mess, disasters, brought on by us and our actions, or inflicted on us and around us by others, they hurt, and if we allow it to, that hurt will shape us and cling. 

Freedom, we can be free men. Jacob got a new name, you will no longer be identified as Jacob! New name, new identity to be had.

Action

This week we might be dealing with some stuff that we have pushed deep, so far under the veneer that just going near it hurts. Pray together, be real and honest together and rebuild and wrestle with God in this stuff. Discover who you are in the wrestling.