Genesis 29

Genesis Chapter 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)

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, because it gives us a glimpse into the powerful way that love can change our perspective.

I don’t know if it is this way for all of you, but for me time often seems elastic. There are periods of time when things are great that just fly by… often those are the times I wish could last for ever. There are other times that seem to drag on for eternity, often times waiting for one thing or another… Those are the ones I wish could just end.

I think one of the things that really strikes me about this passage is that what I would tend to view as a difficult time, Jacob sees as a wonderful time. What I imagine to be a period of time that would have kept going, and going, Jacob sees as a “few days”.

What is it that makes a difficult time fly by for Jacob? LOVE… plain and simple, it is love.

There are 2 ways we can look at this:

Imagine if you will, Jesus in the position of Jacob, and us in the place of Rachel… Hebrews 12 tells us that, “For the JOY set before Him (that joy was us!), he endured the cross despising the shame…” Because Jesus loved us so much, and knew the joy that awaited Him in restoring us to a right relationship with Him, He endured all of the hardships of the cross.
Now flip flop that. Here we are on earth, serving the Lord. At times we can feel like it is long and hard, working here on the earth, serving the lord under difficult circumstances. All of the difficulty fades away though when we catch a glimpse of the Love of the Lord. When we realize His love for us, we are filled with love for Him. There is no greater motivator that I know of than God’s love!!!

It is a subtle shift that makes all the difference in the world. If I am serving God to gain His love; then life can seem hard, long, and tedious. But, if I am serving God BECAUSE HE LOVES ME, it changes everything. Now my service is a response, rather than an attempt at the impossible. Earning God’s love simply can’t be done. If we accept His love on the basis of His grace, and respond in love ourselves, everything changes… Like Jacob, those “7 years” will seem like a few days, and hard work will seem easy, all because we are motivated by love.