For this Love--Gen. 29

"And Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her" (Gen. 29:20).

Footsore, weary, and a sorry sight was Jacob when he arrived at the well just outside Haran. The shepherds waiting there gave him good news: his long journey was at an end and his uncle was a well known man in the area.

Then one shepherd added, "Behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep" (vs. 6).

Jacob looked, and saw the woman he would forever love.

For this love he served Laban seven years.

And after that terrible night of treachery and betrayal, he served another seven years.

And after that, a lifetime of sorrow and frustration at the rivalry of the two sister wives he had gotten.

All because he loved.

One woman.

Love can make man do very stupid things. (Woman, too, as the case may be.)

After the first wedding, when "it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah" (vs. 25), "the fact that Leah herself had been a party to the cheat, caused Jacob to feel that he could not love her" (PP 189).

Yet, God had allowed it to happen for a reason.

And of a certainty, the Messiah came through one of Leah's sons, not Rachel's.

But Joseph was a type of Christ--a deliverer of his people, and of all of Egypt.

One wonders how different the story would have been if Jacob would have been content to love Leah…

And Leah alone.

The love he had for Rachel consumed him. It was so strong that it made seven years seem like a mere handful of days.

Yet, it was Leah who stood beside him through the end of his lifetime. Leah who brought forth the son that would father a generation that would bring the Desire of Ages to our world.

So many want to be Rachel. Beautiful, well-favored: loved by someone with consuming, ardent love.

Leah was the third wheel. And who wants to be that?

But Leah had a part in bringing salvation to this world.

Which would you rather have?

The love of someone earthly, who isn't perfect and never will be?

Or the consuming love of a Father, King Almighty God...and a part in bringing salvation to the attention of the world?

It is for this love that seven years...Twenty years… a lifetime… should seem "as but a few days."

Lord, may I learn to love You first and best; learn to love Your work...and as Your will may see fit, grant me the desire of my heart in Your time.

Photo credit: S.A.J.