“So he [Laban] rushed out to the spring where the man was still standing beside his camels. Laban said to him, ‘Come and stay with us, you who are blessed by the LORD! Why are you standing here outside the town when I have a room all ready for you and a place prepared for the camels?'” Genesis 24:30-31
This scripture was way too beautiful for me not to break it down and share it with you. If you’ll notice there are five sections to this scripture:
- So he rushed out to the spring where the man was still standing beside his camels.
- Laban said to him, “Come and stay with us…”
- “you who are blessed by the LORD!”
- “Why are you standing here outside the town”
- “I have a room all ready for you and a place prepared for your camels.”
So today I’m going to take each section and share with you a correlating scripture that the Holy Spirit gave me in order to fully convey His message.
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The man standing by the spring
In Psalm chapter one we find the psalmist painting a picture of a relationship with God:
“1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper [or are blessed] in all they do.
In John 7:37-39 Jesus tells us the Truth about standing close to springs of water:
37 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
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“Come and stay with us…”
While Laban may have been the first to say these words, he was by no means the last! In a slight modification of the words themselves, Jesus uttered the same sentiment precisely in Matthew 4:18-22:
“18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.
21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.”
Jesus calls us each to “come and stay with Him”. He wants for us to follow in His footsteps and to stick close by His side in order to soak in the Living Water of His word. And what’s the benefit of a relationship with Jesus?
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (According to Matthew 11:28-30.)
The burden we are given is to bear His Light in this the Valley of the Shadow of Darkness. In this relationship with Jesus we are given the work of entering into His rest.
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“You who are blessed by the LORD…”
Time and time again throughout the story of Abraham we hear God repeat the words, “I will bless you and make you famous and you will be a blessing to others.” Over and over God is emphasizing the most basic principle of being a Christ follower and a Living Water drinker, God blesses you in order to for you to be a blessing to others. Did you catch that? God’s first goal is to bless you. YOU! Now!
In Psalm 1:3 it even points out that the end result of that tree drinking up that water day after day is that it bears fruit and prospers in everything that it does. Think about it, it would be impossible for you to bless someone else if you hadn’t first been blessed yourself. You couldn’t comfort someone going through a hard time if you hadn’t ever been comforted yourself. You wouldn’t know how to do it. You can’t bless others financially if you’re not financially blessed yourself. You can’t bless others with words of wisdom if you haven’t been blessed with wisdom yourself. You can’t lend someone your lawnmower when theirs breaks down if you don’t have a lawnmower to lend, now can you? You see how it works? God blesses you FIRST and foremost in order that through you He can bless others who may not have the same relationship with Him that you do. You are blessed to be a blessing.
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“Why are you standing here outside the town…”
Now this one gets a little… interesting. This phrase gives us this picture of a man standing outside the city gates. There’s a verse found at the very end of the Bible in Revelation 22:12-15 that bears a striking resemblance to this very image:
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
While still taking up residence in the Valley of the Shadow of Death we have not yet entered into the city past those pearly gates of heaven. Technically speaking we’re still outside the city with the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. But there’s that significant detail we grasped onto back in point number one – we’re standing next to the spring like trees planted by the river in a desert wilderness. Jesus is that spring of Living Water from which we can drink deeply all the days of our lives through the miracle of His Word alive and active in us. He is the Daily Bread served up fresh and piping hot morning after morning as His mercies we seek.
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“I have a room all ready for you”
While our flesh and bone may still reside on the hard packed clay of Earth where the Adversary roams seeking whom he may devour, John 14:1-7 gives us tremendous hope… and a home.
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”
Sound familiar? There is a room, prepared just for you, in the Father’s house. It has all your favorite things in it and your name is on the door because He’s got it waiting for you when the time is right. Today, through Laban, Jesus tells us the Truth, “I am the way, the truth and the life. Outside the city there is trouble in every form, but there is also a river of Living Water. When you ‘Come and follow Me’ you will find yourself blessed with washed robes and able to enter in through the gates of Heaven where you will live forever with Jesus in the room prepared especially for YOU. (And there’s even room for your camels too, if you have any.) 😉
Do you want to follow Jesus today? It’s as simple as saying, “Yes” right here right now. You can whisper it. You can SHOUT it. But whatever you do, just say it! “YES Jesus! I want to follow YOU! Please come into my heart and spring forth from my heart like the spring of Living Water that You are. I am in the desert wilderness. I am weary and heavily burdened and in desperate need of rest. Thank You for forgiving me of all my sins and taking them upon Yourself at the cross. I accept Your gift of salvation. Please help me to walk in Your ways. Please bless me so that I may be a blessing to the others around me in everything that I do – from laundry to finances – may I be more like you day by day. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
Tamar Knochel 