“Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant. When morning came, there was Leah! (Genesis 29:16-25a NIV)
One Saturday afternoon, in the days where I was doing double duty; going to school full-time and working a full-time job, I was home alone. That already sounds like a set-up for trouble, right? I put one, yes one hot dog on the stove to boil and have a quick lunch. While reading, right in the next room, I got too relaxed in a chair and fell asleep. Meanwhile, my hot dog was still boiling. I woke up to the smell of smoke. Not only was the hot dog as black as you can imagine, but the bottom of the once shiny, sparkly, silver pan was a perfect match with the black hot dog. How black was it? It was so black that it fit the category of the burnt “to all get out.” How black was it? It was so black that it qualified for the kind of pans that you throw away and hope nobody ever misses it. How black was it? It was so black it was darker than the midnight hour when dark clouds hid the stars. I told my wife this story, a true account, and in between her laughter she asked, “Were you cooking the hot dog or the pan?” Yes, this true tale from my past is funny, but it led me to a fruitful lesson for all of us.
Stay alert this week! Stay awake every day from today until the end of the week! Stay attentive and safe this week, avoiding things of which you say, “Oh that could never happen to me.” Or perhaps situations where you need to think twice before you respond like Peter this week when Christ told him, “That this night, before the cock crow, thou shall deny me thrice.” You know how that worked out, don’t you? Strong and confident, you may think you can never be lured into a sinful behavior by the lion that is trying to devour you. Again I say unto you (Sounding biblical again.), stay alert! Be on guard! Be good at being observant to what’s happening and open your inner eyes to see the deceiver trying to mislead you with some radical misbelief. The devil is tricky, but as a little first grader once said in Vacation Bible School, “The devil is a liar!”
If you do these things that I have prescribed, there will be no “Oh-oh” surprises at the end of the week, such as the case was with Jacob who thought he had married Rachel whom he loved, but ended up in the morning married to her older sister, Leah. I guess I need to add, wait until you are fully awake and wait until you are out of darkness; the darkness of night or the figurative and spiritual darkness that can keep you from seeing things clearly and correctly. Now, go and start your day, eyes wide open. Stay alert! Don’t get too relaxed spiritually; not like I was literally, when I was trying to cook the hot dog, but cooked the pan. Love you! Be blessed!
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (I Peter 5:8-9a NIV)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King