Jesus tells several small parables that begin with, "the kingdom of heaven is like..." All these have one basic thing in common, that is the kingdom of heaven is of immeasurable value but not all will perceive that value. Those who do, however, will give everything else to possess it. Paul confirms in Romans not all will perceive or possess the kingdom. He tells us God foreknows who will and predestined them, justifies them and glorifies them and then gives assurance they will persevere no matter what, nothing will stop or separate those ones from the kingdom and their inheritance. He assures us of these things because in this world it will frequently seem that nothing is working out and that what we believe is unattainable. No matter what, keep believing in Him. He who promised and who called will see it through to the end He has promised. In the Old Testament lesson we see Jacob agreeing to serve his uncle Laban for the hand of his younger daughter, Rachel, in marriage. At the end of those seven years he demands his wages and Laban agrees then, as they go to consummate the marriage, Laban pulls a switcheroo and substitutes his older daughter Leah. The next morning Jacob sees what has happened, confronts his uncle who says, we don't do things that way here, older daughters have to get married first. In spite of his anger and disappointment Jacob agrees to yet another seven years of service. Even after that, he stays another 6 years, 20 years in all and Laban continues to cheat him before he leaves. Jacob forgot all about God's promise because Rachel was more important than that. We sometimes lose our focus and it takes "bad" things to get us back to our call. Today is a day to say to God, I've lost my focus, what is the main thing but now I want to come back to my first love.
