Saturday February 13th, 2021
Memorize: Judges 14:3 New Living Translations (NLT)
« His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” »
Read: Genesis 29:20-28; Genesis 31:30-35
Genesis 29:20-28 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
20 So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban,
“Give me my wife, for my time is completed. I want to marry her.”
22 So Laban invited all the men of the place to a feast.
23 That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her.
24 And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.
25 When morning came, there was Leah!
So he said to Laban,
“What is this you have done to me?
Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you?
Why have you deceived me?”
26 Laban answered,
“It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn.
27 Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.”
28 And Jacob did just that.
He finished the week of celebration,
and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.
Genesis 31:30-35 New Living Translations (NLT)
30 I can understand your feeling that you must go, and your intense longing for your father’s home. But why have you stolen my gods?”
31 “I rushed away because I was afraid,”
Jacob answered.
“I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.
32 But as for your gods, see if you can find them, and let the person who has taken them die!
And if you find anything else that belongs to you, identify it before all these relatives of ours, and I will give it back!”
But Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the household idols.
33 Laban went first into Jacob’s tent to search there, then into Leah’s, and then the tents of the two servant wives—but he found nothing.
Finally, he went into Rachel’s tent.
34 But Rachel had taken the household idols and hidden them in her camel saddle, and now she was sitting on them.
When Laban had thoroughly searched her tent without finding them,
35 she said to her father,
“Please, sir, forgive me if I don’t get up for you.
I’m having my monthly period.”
So Laban continued his search, but he could not find the household idols.
Message:
So many people are having problems in their marriages today because they were so desperate for marriage that they ended up marrying a devil.
Jacob was so desperate to marry Rachel that he did not study her character well enough to see her strong commitment to idols, and more importantly, he did not ask God to choose for him as had been the custom in his family (Genesis 24:12-14).
I am writing this today because I don’t want you to fall victim of the same error if you are still single.
You need God to enable you to find the right partner.
In Proverbs 18:22GNT, the Bible says:
«Find a wife and you find a good thing; it shows that the LORD is good to you.»
The Bible verse above implies that not just any woman would make a wife.
For every one of our single brothers: may you find a wife one who would move you forward and be a help mate indeed, in the mighty name of Jesus.
I know a case of two people who were both desperate to get married. They came across each other and soon got married. From the first week of their marriage they became like cats and dogs.
I pray for anyone trusting God for a future partner that you will find favor with God and know His will.
A sister should not agree to a marriage proposal just because she feels age is no longer on her side.
Only a man who is God-fearing and can love her as Christ loves the Church is worthy of a sisters hand in marriage.
The thing about marriage is that once you are in it, you cannot change your mind as God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16).
Brother/Sister, you need to be very sure that God is leading you into that marriage before you exchange those marital vows.
Do not marry someone for the sake of getting married.
It is better to wait on God for the right person than to settle for just anyone because of societal pressures.
A lot of Christians who committed that error would tell you it is a grievous mistake to make.
An error in selecting a life partner could ruin a destiny.
The Bible says if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalms 11:3) A word is enough for the wise.
Prayer point: Father, whatever You must do, do it so that I don’t get into the wrong marriage in the mighty name of Jesus.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Text edited by Naomie
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