This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” “Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. Genesis 32:24-31
Names are important. In Biblical times people were named with
purpose. “Jacob” is roughly translated
as heel-grabber, or surplanter. It was a fitting name for the second born of
twins who was holding-on to his brother Esau’s foot as they emerged into this
world. It became an apt description of
Jacob’s character as he later stole the birthright and blessing belonging to his
brother.
Later in life Jacob had to come face to face
with his name; he had to face his character and own it if he was ever going to be
right with God. When he had that face to
face mirror meeting, he was asked to identify himself. He was wrestling with God’s angel over whether
he could go on being a deceiver, or if he would decide to live in truth. He chose the latter, and God changed his name
to Israel, the loved one of God.
The truth about that wrestling match is that we’re
all on that schedule; the meeting comes to all of us. Call it a moment of deciding, a crisis, or
opportunity for growth, there comes a time in each person’s life when living a
lie is brought into question. We are
presented with what Robert Frost called two roads diverging in a forest, one, a
much easier path of self-will, the other a less-travelled path, more difficult,
but best. Jacob, for the first time in
his life, took the less convenient path of truth.
And God, our Sovereign Creator, presents that
same choice to each of us.
Sadly, there are times when we fail the
test. It was so the first time I was
asked to declare my name. It was when I
was inducted into the Army in 1966. Recruits
are required to do many things; among the tasks is choosing dog tag
declarations. My dog tags in the Army
include my service number, name, and a few other bits of information, including
Religious Affiliation.
This bit of information would identify how a chaplain would relate to me
if wounded, or, worse, killed. As a 19-year-old,
vastly wise (and incredibly arrogant) I had concluded that religion was
non-profitable, and I chose to answer accordingly. A few weeks later the little metal tags
strung on a chain to hang on my neck for the next two years arrived. And there it was, Jacob’s declaration of
which Faith-Tribe to which I belonged; two abbreviated words stamped
clearly at the bottom, no pref. NO
PREFERENCE.
No preference? Sitting on the fence? Choosing against choosing?
Truth be told, I hadn’t
lived as long, nor made as many mistakes and sinned big enough to equal Jacob’s
life at that point. But I was on my way
and didn’t want anything like declaring faith to get in the way. And so, I decided against deciding. And those metal dog tags might just as well
have been a carving in stone.
Of course my own meeting
with the wrestling angel came some years later (and I thank God often for His
grace and protection to let me live until then). But, in the meantime I had to live with my
choice. And what I chose was to ignore
my choice.
This is the state of
many people, ignoring what their lives are choosing, ignoring that they’re
ignoring Creator God, who gave us Jesus – He who would not ignore the cost of
our sins, bearing the cross for us.
It’s important to not
forget the cost of that wrestling match between Jacob and God’s angel. Jacob walked away, having chosen truth over
the easy way, and God gave him a new name to celebrate the transformation of a
deceptive liar into truth-bearer. But he
also walked away with a limp, a remembrance of what it cost to cross that river!
For You Today
To NOT DECIDE is
to DECIDE AGAINST Christ and truth.
So, in the voice of that guy who wants
you to get his credit card in your wallet:
What’s on YOUR dog tags?
Title image: By Postdlf, CC BY-SA
3.0 via Wikimedia
Commons W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For more posts on integrity and truth see: Walk With Integrity and
A Simple Life
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