What is under your seat?

Genesis 31. Intrigue, danger, deception. A thick plot if there ever was one.

Jacob has had enough of Laban and he is packing up to leave with his wives Rachel and Leah. He has a secret meeting with them to tell them and to attest to the fact that God has called him to go back to his native land. Rachel and Leah both affirm the decision and state "Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children."

He puts his wives on camels and off they go. Just one little thing.....Rachel takes one of her father's gods. In due course, Laban comes looking and does not find. He actually goes in to Rachel's tent where she has hidden it under the saddle of her camel. She sits on it and the crime is complete.

We have been called to leave the world of our first master behind and with it everything he worships. Surely the wealth we will have comes from God. Not just material, but spiritual, emotional and psychological. But, we (me) just had to take a few things with us. Maybe things we thought our new master would not supply. The god of affection, acceptance, superiority, lust, approval. "Little" gods that can fit under the saddle of our camel. And we can sit on them.

So for me I am praying that God will make me saddle sore. That the stuff I have hidden will become a pain in the rear and I will want to drop it on the side of the road where its original author can come and pick it up. In fact I did notice in 2006 that the saddle was a bit lumpy. I would love to have a smoother ride in 2007, so I am inviting God to teach me repentance and awaken my heart to be sensitive to the sin that so easily entangles. Ride On!