@ Etude -Love

@ Etude- Love

So Jacob served Laban for seven years for the right to marry Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

Genesis 29 v 20

Jacob loved Rachel so much that he was willing to work for seven years for her father Laban tending to his flocks. The long period of seven years passed quickly as Jacob worked with the expectation of marrying Rachel and his love for her was so strong. It is a different matter that at the end of the seven years, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying the older daughter Leah. Consequently, Jacob was willing to work for another seven years to obtain the right to marry Rachel. Jacob ‘s love is a forerunner of the love of Christ for His bride, the church. Such love is selfless, unconditional and exemplary.

Jacob did not grudge the efforts and hard work he put in in order to win the hand of Rachel. In our love for Christ, we too should not grudge the small sacrifices and labour of love we put in for Him in the course of our lives. With such love, even hardship we suffer would seem a small price to pay in exchange for the personal relationship we have with the Lord. We need to remain patient and cheerful even as we wait for the Lord. Love is not envious, not conceited, not proud, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Jacob was not bitter with Laban for having made him wait so long, work so hard and on top of that deceiving him. He did not return evil for evil but returned good for evil as Christ would have us do today.

Sometimes, in our walk with the Lord, we might suffer disappointments but we should not hold it in our hearts but believe that the Lord will work out a greater good even out of it. Jacob was so obsessed with Rachel that he was prepared to make any sacrifice for her. Likewise, in our relationship with the Lord, we need to be obsessed with serving and loving Him. He needs to occupy first place in our lives and everything else is secondary. This kind of attitude alone will please Him and we would be greatly blessed and rewarded for it. Passing years should not weaken our love but our passion for God needs to increase with time.