ALLOW TRANSFORMATION TO HAPPEN
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.”
Genesis 32:27 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
It may seem a bit confusing that God would ask Jacob what his name was. Did God not know? Obviously, God knew this was Jacob. It was like in the Garden of Eden when God asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” God knew where they were, but they needed to admit where they were and why they were hiding—they had allowed sin into their lives.
In this story, we see that Jacob had a moment of transformation about to happen. To become the person God needed him to be Jacob had to admit who he was.
In the ancient world a person’s name identified their character. Jacob’s name meant “deceiver, manipulator.” Up to this moment in his life Jacob had lived up to that name. He had deceived his father and manipulated his brother. He had been deceived and manipulated by other family members as well. His life was marked by deception and manipulation.
When Jacob acknowledged who he was, the transformation could begin. If he continued to hide who he was he could not become the person God created him to be.
Many followers of Christ hide behind false identities. We learn to play the game of religion. They learn the right dress, words to say, and songs to sing but on the inside, there is a secret person. We keep this secret person hidden because we don’t want to admit we aren’t perfect.
But if the secret person is hidden, the transformation can’t begin in our lives. We must confess to God, ourselves, and others the real person who needs grace, mercy, and transformation.
We will never be able to change until we are open and honest and authentically admit our sin, our weakness, our fault, our frailty, our character defects, confessing this to ourselves, to God, and to other people. We however must be careful to whom we confess. This is not a tell all to the world—we need to have trusted godly friends who love us and want the best for us.
Once we break out of our hiding place, we can find forgiveness and freedom.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit empower me today to live an authentic life as a follower of Jesus. Help me to confess my faults to God, myself, and others. Help me to live in forgiveness and freedom.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”
There is freedom in confession to God and to others.