WordLive - Year OneVoorbeeld

Prepare: ‘Lord, help me to forgive those who hurt or anger me, especially my family. Break the bonds of annoyance and resentment. Set me free to love them as you would.’

Time to reflect
Like the elder brother in the parable (Luke 15:29,30), Esau is embittered by his brother’s behaviour. He’s angry enough to kill – as Abel’s brother was before him (4:8) and Joseph’s brothers after him (37:20). So Jacob’s search for a wife becomes a timely excuse for him to slip away on the same journey that Abraham’s servant took years before.

There is a natural pause in the story here; as Jacob leaves, does Rebekah reflect on her part in events? Her strong devotion to her family has given them security, but maybe she enjoys wrapping them round her little finger too much.

The great healer
The tie that binds can also be the noose that ensnares. My keenness to manage my own family is sometimes Rebekah-like, although, I have to say, they frequently resist my organisational powers!

‘O time! thou must untangle this, not I; It is too hard a knot for me to untie!’ says Viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Such faith in time, often called ‘the great healer’, is not entirely misplaced.

Time can put space between people and events, taking the sting out of painful episodes, but only God can help us forgive. Only he can transform our attitudes and mistakes. Let’s bind ourselves to him.

Respond: Find a ring or some other jewellery you can wear to remind you of Rebekah’s story (Proverbs 3:3).

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-05-12