Genesis 31:33-35 (ESV)
So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.
What we behold with our heart is what we become in our lives! This might be the summary of the above passage. The entire context of chapter 31 is that Jacob, along with his two wives Leah and Rachel, are on the run, escaping the corruption of Leah and Rachel’s father, Laban. We have much Biblical narrative on the fact that Laban is a cheat. Notice, in the next few verses what Jacob says about him:
Genesis 31:41-42 (ESV)
These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”
God knows the hearts of those around us and keeps us from their evilness. However, as we attempt to flea that evilness, some of it abides within us. When Jacob told his two wives to pack up and leave, Rachel took Laban’s divination gods. She hid them in her tent, under the saddle. Where would she have learned this deception. First her father was a master at it. Jacob, himself, had manipulated his brother Esau’s birthright and blessing. There is no excuse for Rachel’s behavior, but it is all she has seen in her life. When you behold manipulation and cunning all your life, don’t be too surprised if you, too, use it to navigate your life. We are what we continually behold. This is why it is important to make sure our thoughts are on the right things. Note what Paul stated to the church at Philippi:
Genesis 31:41-42 (ESV)
These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”
We are what we behold and think. Think about good things and God will use it to produce goodness in us:
John 17:17 (ESV)
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
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