YOU'VE MADE YOUR BED, NOW LIE IN IT

"Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place." (Genesis 28:10, 11 HCSB)

It was a hard bed--a mattress of sod, a rock for a pillow and covered with a blanket of dew. Jacob had made his bed--now he would have to lie in it.

There are consequences for our actions. In Biblical vernacular, we reap what we sow. For most of his life, Jacob would work diligently to scheme his way around this principle. It came naturally for him. God would eventually break him--but it would be a long and painful process.

Perhaps you have been the recipient of a special gift called "the strong-willed child." Days were marked with discipline. It was a battle over everything! If you are currently trying to raise such a child, he or she is likely climbing over you as you wrestle with him or her in exasperation, vainly trying to read these words--a Tasmanian devil on your lap!

That was Jacob. He entered the world by grabbing his twin brother's heel. Esau might be the first-born, but Jacob would fight him over it. Conniving, plotting, cheating--whatever it took--he wanted the birthright and the blessing, which came to the eldest son. He got it. God had foreordained it. But, rather than rely on the Lord to fulfill His will in His way, Jacob would "take the bull by the horns." He could have adopted the Frank Sinatra lyrics as his theme song, "I did it my way!"

He made his bed, now he would have to lie in it.

Conspiring with his mother, concealing his identity from his father, cheating his brother--that made for a hard bed. Jacob left home, leaving behind a disappointed father, a broken-hearted mother and a brother seething with fury. Jacob was a "mama's boy" but he would never see his mother again. It would be many years before Jacob would finally make it back home. His dear mother would be long dead.

He made his bed, now he would have to lie in it.

Jacob finds his way to kinfolk in Haran. There things seem to work according to plan--at first. He chooses a bride--a beauty named Rachel. But, Rachel has a father--Laban--every bit the scoundrel that Jacob was. Rachel also has a sister--Leah--as plain as her sister was pretty and to no one's surprise still unmarried. Laban would fix that. The wedding is over, the "bride" is waiting in a dark tent to consummate the marriage. Jacob waits up the next morning--surprise! It was Leah! The cheater has been cheated; the deceiver deceived. You reap what you sow.

Make your choices today carefully--prayerfully. Submit to God's will rather than strive for your will. When you make your bed, you will have to lie in it.