LIFE SCRIPTS

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” 18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
Genesis 28:16‭-‬22 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.28.16-22.NIV.

At this instance, Jacob had a realization. It was an ‘aha’ moment for him. All along, scripture seemed not to mention anything about Jacob’s walk with God. However, now as stated in verse 16, the Lord presented Himself to Jacob. He realized that God is present and is concerned with his life. But God just didn’t appear to him in an abstract form, He appeared to him at a place, in a vivid dream where angels ascended to and descended from the gate of Heaven. So Jacob placed a stone of remembrance the next day. He laid it, anointed it with oil and christened that particular place, Bethel. Anytime he would pass by that place he would remember that this is the place he encountered God. This is the House of the Lord. There are those episodes in our lives when God blows our expectations over the roof. As we struggle through the dark alleys of life, we develop a routine in line with the struggle. Our expectations are low and at times we resign to fate when hard situations bite: a lack of a job, a prolonged illness, loss of a loved one, a dysfunctional marriage /family. However at times in the midst of such trouble, God suddenly appears to us through a vision, through circumstances or through other ways. At such moments, it’s good for us to establish points of remembrance so that as we look back we can indeed see that the Lord came through for us at that particular point and place in time. From verse 20 Jacob’s heart underwent a form of conversion. Scripture says that he made the Lord his God. He was responding to God’s reassuarance towards him. God had reached out to him and he had responded favourably. God reached out to him in the midst of his life’s activities the same way He does in the midst of ours. However, the defining moment is our response towards Him. How do we respond to God’s call on us? Do we even notice God reaching out to us? At times we’re so occupied by our misfortune and state of sin that we ignore God’s mercy extended towards us. Our sinful state does not block God from reaching out to us. Our attitude does. Jacob in his heart knew the kind of man he had become. A cheat, a trickster and all traits related to that. However, when he heard the voice of God, he did not harden his heart but embraced Him so much so that he offered to give Him a tenth of his belongings. There’s is something that happens when we embrace God in our lives. When we do so, we give to Him with an open heart because of our gratitude towards Him. Whenever we encounter the concept of tithe in the scripture, we always see it being accompanied by a heart willing to give and not a coercion to give. Abram gave without being compelled. Here Jacob made a vow to give a tenth of his belongings to God. He was not compelled but did it out of gratitude. The willingness to tithe is a reflection of our genuine love for God. Nothing is as valuable as money in our world today. If we’re willing to let it go in order to worship God (even when it hurts), we leave no doubt in our hearts that God is at the centre of our lives.