Samuel,
who was 4, had finished eating his dinner and asked if he could be dismissed
from the table. He wanted to go outside to play. But he was too young to be out
alone, so his mother said, “No. You can’t go outside by yourself. You need to
wait for me to finish and go with you.” His quick reply: “But, Mommy, Jesus is
with me!”
Samuel
had learned well from his parents that the Lord is always by his side. We see
in our Bible reading today that Jacob had learned that lesson too. His father
Isaac had blessed him and told him to find a wife from among his mother’s
family (Gen. 28:1-4). He
followed that directive and traveled toward Haran.
As Jacob
slept, the Lord came to him in a dream and said, “I am with you and will keep
you wherever you go . . . ; for I will not leave you” (v.15). When he awoke, he
knew that he had heard from God, and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place”
(v.16). Confident of God’s presence, he committed himself to following Him with
his life (vv.20-21).
If we have received Jesus as our Savior (John 1:12), we can be confident and take comfort in the truth that He is always present with us (Heb. 13:5). Like Jacob, may our response to His love be wholehearted devotion.
