We started a new Christmas devotion this year (which we love) and it starts at the very beginning of the Christmas story. Not the night Jesus was born in a manger, but at the very beginning. Before the creation of earth when Jesus was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1).

The Beginning of the Christmas Story

That was the beginning of the Christmas story. Before creation and then the fall of man. Before Noah. Before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Jacob, the man part of “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

We’ll talk about him but first – a personal story. In our homeschool co-op, we have something called Family Share in chapel and part of it is sharing a prayer request, something we as a co-op can be praying for one another. We were one of the first families to go this year and I struggled with this question. I told a friend ahead of time, “I’m just going to share something generic because I don’t want to say what’s going on personally that we are really struggling with.”

So I asked for prayer for our family farm and a big decision we had to make.

And not even 24 hours later, someone else had made that decision for us. I didn’t know how to deal with that. It felt like we had been violated and betrayed and I honestly felt a lot of hate, anger, and hard feelings.

It felt like we had been stripped of our identity.

And I struggled.

So last week when we sat together as a family in our living room continuing on with our Christmas devotion and that particular night was about Jacob, everything seemed to suddenly make sense.

Tracing the Lineage of Christ

Here is Jacob, born a twin, the second twin, who was so aptly named because he was born grabbing the heel of his twin. That’s what his name Jacob meant – “grasping the heel or deceiver.”

He grabbed his brother’s birthright and blessing and fled from home in fear of his life. Jacob and his mother took things into their own hands even though God had already told Rebekah His plan would be worked out through Jacob, not Esau.

Jacob sounds like a real scoundrel! Why on earth would he be part of the Christmas story?

He is running from all he knows when he has a personal encounter with God who reiterated His promise to Abraham that He would continue to carry out with Jacob. Remember, the promise that God would send someone through their family line would be a blessing to all nations. This personal encounter was a defining moment for Jacob! Up until now, when we read his story in the Bible, he’s kind of all about Jacob. Jacob kind of does whatever he wants whenever he wants. But after this particular moment, he seems to move forward seeking God’s direction.

And then Jacob experienced the grabbing himself when his Uncle Laban tricks and manipulates and deceived him.

Decades pass before Jacob heads home to reconcile with Esau and on the way, he encounters a man in which he spends the entire night wrestling with. He grabs ahold of the Lord and refuses to let go ALL NIGHT LONG until he surrendered. This night Jacob realized his dependence on God, the very same God who already blessed him many times over.

That night, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel which means “he struggled with God.”

Depending on God

I too struggled with God to let go of this false identity I had found in farming. I can only speak for myself when I say I’d forgotten my identity lay in Jesus Christ.

There are many people in the Bible besides Jacob whose names God changed when they trusted Him.

When we completely depend on God and our relationship with Him becomes essential to the way we live…we can’t help but recount his deeds. We can’t help but rejoice every time we remember what He’s done. When we count our blessings or continue to trust Him in every area of our lives. Whether farming or family or family drama or growing a foundation of faith, we recount His deeds.

Here’s the thing. When we wrestle with God and we let Him make his mark on us and we completely depend on Him, He forever changes us just like Jacob was.

The Star of Christmas

In Numbers 24:17, it says, “a star will come out of Jacob.”

That’s why Jacob is part of the Christmas story – he is part of the lineage of Christ. Jesus was the fulfilled prophecy of that Scripture. Jesus, a star, would be born through the family tree of Jacob and He would save the world by bringing light into the darkness.

We can also shine light into the darkness every time we recount the Lord’s wonderful deeds. The holidays are hard for so many people who feel hopeless, helpless, unwanted, and unloved. But for those of us who know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we can share the good news with them. We can tell them the wonderful things the Lord has done in our lives to make a difference. We can let them know how very loved they are, of what great worth they are in that Jesus died to give them life.

Sometimes, at least for me and my family, we can get caught up in our circumstances that we catch ourselves complaining about what we don’t have or what’s been “taken” from us, that we miss the big picture. We want to grab what we think is ours and make a run for it.

The Christmas Gift

Here’s the thing. We are richly blessed. God has done great things and given good gifts to us. I’m not talking about tangible gifts like a home or farmland or presents wrapped under the Christmas tree.

God has given the absolute greatest gift of all in His son, Jesus. Our salvation is something that no one can strip from us, they can’t take it away!

The Lord lavishes gifts on us, not all of them tangible – love, peace, mercy, grace…

James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift comes from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

What are some good gifts God has given you? Can I challenge you this Christmas season to think beyond the wrapped presents to the good gifts God has given you? Will you make a list and recount his wondrous deeds? Talk about them with your family. Tell them to friends. Share with a stranger of a time when you were struggling and God was so gracious to you.

These moments and gifts are things we can rejoice in! We serve a good God, worthy of praise.

Let’s praise the Lord this Christmas season and look for opportunities to share the Light of Christmas.