Genesis 32:22-31 (NRSV)
Read Genesis 32:22-31 on biblegateway.com
Verse 22The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. Verse 23He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.
Verse 24Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Verse 25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Verse 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." Verse 27So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Verse 28Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." Verse 29Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. Verse 30So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." Verse 31The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Devotion
Jacob’s opponent wrestled dirty. When he saw that he would not win, he struck Jacob on the hip socket. But the man still had to beg: “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” Holding his opponent in the unshakable grip of a “sleeper hold” Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” And he clung with his mighty python arms until he had received the blessing he sought.
Like Jacob's mysterious opponent, God does promise to bless us. We trust that he will. May we learn from Jacob's boldness to cling to that promise, to hold on to God and to call on him with courage and confidence. And may we remember that even when our grip is weak, God will always hold on to us.
Prayer
Bless us, Lord, with your name and don’t let us go. Amen.