Reaping the Fruit of Our Actions: Genesis 30:25-43
We often reap what we sow. If I go out of my house and treat everyone with contempt, most people will treat me with contempt in return. On the other hand, if I smile at everyone while wishing blessings upon them, I shouldn’t be surprised when people smile back. This is no guarantee, of course. Still, the actions of others when interacting with us is often in part a reflection of how we treat them.
Once Rachel bears Jacob a son, Jacob’s list of tasks to be accomplished is complete. He asks Laban to send him away. While it might feel like he is seeking permission, Jacob is really asking Laban’s blessing to take his daughters away. He is being polite while making his wishes known.
Laban knows his own wealth has increased because of his proximity to Jacob. God was with Jacob and God blessed Jacob; Laban wants his piece of that action. Laban argues to keep Jacob around, offering his son-in-law the option to name his own wages.
This illustrates a neat point about human relationships. We all bring qualities to a relationship. We all take things away from the relationship, too. It’s important to ask if the people who want you around are in it for the right reasons. For example, was Laban interested in relationship with Jacob, or Jacob’s ability to make him wealthy? Was Laban interested in keeping his daughters close or Jacob’s ability to make the herd grow large? Was Laban interested in drawing closer to Jacob’s God or skimming off the top of God’s blessing?
The answers to these questions will be discovered over the next few days. This story continues into the next chapter, and more will be revealed about the character of the individuals then. For now, we ask the question to let the answers mull around in our mind.
Jacob has had no less than fourteen years with Laban’s herd. He knew the strong animals, the weak animals, the animals that took to training, and the strong-willed ones. As a shepherd, he knew which animals would continue to make a strong herd. Therefore, he mates the animals so the strong animals would stay strong with him while the weak animals will be given away to Laban.
Without going into his process – a topic saved for another day as the story unfolds – Jacob feels like a schemer here. Through his actions, his herd grew strong and robust while Laban’s herd was filled with leftovers and rejects. This is not an incorrect assumption, but it is also not the full picture.
Laban is himself a schemer; Jacob put up with a decade and a half of his schemes. Jacob developed an amazing sense of patience in his time away from Canaan. Remember that Laban asked for Jacob to stay because he wants to be around the wealth with which God blesses Jacob. Laban has always thought of himself first whenever he interacted with Jacob. We often reap what we sow.
