Sketchbook Scriptures: Genesis 25-36

Brianna has read the book of Genesis, and the stories of the patriarchs many many times in her life. But she recently read the story of Jacob in Genesis 25-36, and some things popped out that she hadn’t thought about before. The biggie: God didn’t choose Jacob because he was good. Brianna tends to “try to be good” in pretty much every area of her life. And obviously, since she’s human, it backfires a lot. And yet she still seems to think that she needs to be “good” to deserve/receive God’s love. Jacob was a liar, a thief and a cheat. This is true. Jacob was a hard worker, fiercely loyal once tested and faithful. This is also true. The juxtaposition of the truths of being human are shown so well in Jacob’s life. And this is good news to us. We don’t have to be good. It’s God who is good and makes goodness in our life. If that isn’t freedom, we don’t know what is! Interestingly enough, while working on these pages, Brianna had quite a bit of theft in her own life, both things and identity theft, and it was like God highlighting what she was learning, as she had to deal with lying, cheating, and thievery directly in her days. Ultimately, God is the one directly our paths through an unknown forest, and holding our hands while we walk unsteadily. He crowns us with His goodness as He sees fit, and calls us beloved with an unconditional love that our finite human hearts and brains just cannot quite comprehend.