INTRODUCTION: To begin with let me ask you a question… as a culture is we an “obsessive” people?
• We obsess over money; often wanting the lifestyle it brings, and being secretly jealous of those who we think have it!
• We obsess over looks; often wanting the trim and toned perfect body and all the attention it brings, and being secretly jealous of those who we think have it!
• We obsess over fame; often wanting the glitz, glamor, and bling that it brings, and being secretly jealous of those who we think have it!
• We obsess over power; often wanting the thrill, exhilaration, and sense of control that it brings, and being secretly jealous of those who we think have it!
• We obsess over toys, often wanting the next best thing on the market, and the status it brings, and being secretly jealous of those who we think have it!
• We obsess over being loved or in love, wanting that “storybook” romance with the “fairytale” ending, and being secretly jealous of those who we think have it!
BACKGROUND: That which we obsess over, will in the end be what we worship, and that which we worship we will become a “slave” to. In our society, the church included the greatest obsession we have is with being in love or being loved, in fact our culture holds it up as the greatest and noblest of pursuits. We are indoctrinated by our culture to believe that the need to be loved or in love is built into each one of us, so that we instinctively yearn for it… so did God create us to be loved, and to love others? Most certainly, if in doubt go just read the Song of Solomon… While we were created to be loved our culture has inflated the idea to crazy proportions, but we weren’t the first to do it!
JACOB – OBSESSED WITH BEING IN LOVE
• In Genesis 29 we read a love story that seems to fit more in the world of reality television than in the pages of the annals of the Patriarchs – It’s the Bachelor BC!
• The key players in our story are Jacob, the son of Isaac and Rebecca and his wife Leah, the elder daughter of his uncle Laban
• After all the turmoil of the Jacob/Esau incident, Jacob flees to his uncles place, and Laban gives him a job, upon seeing how able of a manager Jacob is Laban asks him; “what can I pay you for your services?” – Jacob’s answer was one word… Rachel (Genesis 29:16-20)
• Jacob offered 7 years labor in return for Rachel, an enormous price at that time, but they seemed like only a :few days: to him because of his love for her (vs. 20)
• Then look at vs. 21 – this phrase is unusually bold, graphic, and sexual for ancient literature
• Imagine saying to your soon to be father-in-law. “I can’t wait to have sex with your daughter, give her to me now” – that’s exactly what Jacob says to Laban
• Why? Jacob’s life was empty, bad relationships with parents, siblings etc… he was looking for love, and all the longings of his heart were fixated on Rachel He was a man truly “obsessed”
• This situation has been described as an “apocalyptic romance,” where our sense of meaning, our identity that should have been found in a relationship with God, is sought out in a relationship with another.
LEAH – OBSESSED WITH BEING LOVED
• Jacob’s inner desires made him vulnerable, and Laban took advantage of that vulnerability
• He never actually says “yes” to Jacobs wage (vs. 19) and this vague answer cost’s Jacob greatly – seven years more labor, and not one, but two wives – and Leah, the “ugly” sister gets the short end of the stick…
• While is obsessed with his love for Rachel, Leah is obsessed with being loved by Jacob, and it’s a vicious cycle (vs. 31-34)
• What was she doing? Trying to find her identity though traditional “family values”
• In the time of the Patriarchs the best position a woman could be in was to mother “sons”
• She thought that if she had “sons” then her husband would love her and her unhappy life would be fixed – well guess what… it wasn’t!
• Jacob = if I get Rachel I’ll be fulfilled – Leah = if I get the love of Jacob, I’ll be fulfilled
• They both have flawed expectations, and end up worshiping idols of their own making!
• If there’s anyone in this reality television story who finally “gets-it” and makes some spiritual progress it would have to be Leah. (Jacob’s progress comes in a WWE bout with an angel)
• When Leah gives birth to her last son “Judah” her response is quite different as compared to her previous births – This time “I will praise the Lord” (vs.35)
• There was no mention of either the husband or the child, she had taken her deepest hopes off of her husband and sons and placed them where they rightfully belonged – with God
CONCLUSION: Let’s close with our list of obsessions we looked at the start…
• We obsess over money; often wanting the lifestyle it brings, – but scripture tells us that the love i.e. worship of money is the root of all kinds of evil!
• We obsess over looks; often wanting the trim and toned perfect body and all the attention it brings – but time is no respecter of persons, and we all get old!
• We obsess over fame; often wanting the glitz, glamor, and bling that it brings – but fame and fortune fade, and celebrities are soon nobodies, Hollywood is a graveyard of shattered dreams!
• We obsess over power; often wanting the thrill, exhilaration, and since of control that it brings – but power fades with time, all empires fall
• We obsess over toys, often wanting the next best thing on the market, and the status it brings – Keeping up with the Jones’s will have you just a broke and in debt and as miserable as they are, with nothing to show for it in the end!
• We obsess over being loved or in love, wanting that “storybook” romance with the “fairytale” ending – but there is no such thing as a “fairytale” that’s why their called “fairytales.”
Romantic love is a good thing; in fact it’s a great thing… if in doubt read Ephesians 5. But when we make it the be-all, end-all of life then it becomes a false god. When we put our hope in romantic love and sacrifice so much for it we come up empty in the end, because such weighty expectations are bone-crushingly heavy! When we worship another, we turn them not only into counterfeit gods, but failed saviors as well. There is only one Savior, and His name is Jesus, and He is the very definition of LOVE! And it’s a love that can NEVER go wrong! Have you felt His love, have you loved Him in return? If not, why not today?
