“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, ‘Let Me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me!’ ”
Genesis 32:24–26
As I contemplated this struggle between Jesus and Jacob, I thought about our struggle with sin. Can you picture it, Jacob—alone, afraid for his family and what the next day’s meeting with Esau might bring—and a Man appears. At first, Jacob believes He is just a man, perhaps someone sent by Esau to kill him in the night, so that his family and all of his flocks and wealth can be taken by Esau. So, he fights with everything he has against Him. The Man is strong and Jacob, no weakling himself, is unable to prevail against Him, nor did the Man prevail either. Of course, we know that the man was Jesus and He did not prevail until dawn at which time He crippled Jacob.
Jacob knew he was a sinful man. He was about to confront probably his worst sin the next day. Facing Esau, from whom he stole (bowl of porridge aside) the birthright, and lying to his father Isaac. Jacob needed forgiveness and he sensed that this Man could give it. So, he fought and pleaded, “I cannot let You go until I am forgiven.”
Our sinful nature struggles every day against the Holy Spirit’s efforts to transform us. We are sinful and left to ourselves, we would be happy being sinful except, I believe, there is a God-sized hole inside us and no matter what we do, we cannot fill it. We are looking for something. Even the most hardened sinner, can feel the drawing of the Holy Spirit. It is just a matter of surrendering or not. Nero, Felix, Judas all felt the attraction of the Holy Spirit, but when the time came to decide, they chose wrong.
Jesus has saved us. He loves us. He wants to make us like Himself. He will provide all the strength and grace necessary to achieve this miraculous transformation in our character.
“What more could the Lord do for us than He has done? He has promised us power and strength here, and for the overcomer He has promised an eternal life in the kingdom of glory. He will help you in all your struggles with sin. You can take your trials to Him. Who will now accept of Christ, and give himself to Him as he has never done before? Who will seek for the comfort and encouragement that Christ has given? Who will search the Scriptures to learn what is truth? Let those arise to their feet who will today make a new covenant with God.” The Review and Herald, December 16, 1909
“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”