December 5

“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go . . . and Jehovah will be my God . . . ” Genesis 28:20, 21

Now is it not true that you vowed a vow when you were first saved? Although you may have bargained with God while doing so. as Jacob did, your heart was right. As you set out upon his pathway, your desire toward him was good.

But have you been like Jacob? The morning after, he put that vow behind his back. He traveled eastward and far from relying on God, he began at once to maneuver his way to success. He put his trust, not in the One whom he had asked to keep and clothe and feed him, but wholly in himself. How well he represents us! He looked to God, but he relied on his own cleverness.

In Laban, however, God had prepared for this clever Jacob someone even cleverer. Step by step he was brought back by adversity to his vow, until at length he could only confess himself unworthy of the least of God’s mercies.