Straked Rods
I woke up early this morning with a mind filled with thoughts. It was not a new thought, I had just not written it down. I shared with you a week or so ago the article in the Church News. Since that posting, I have had slept with a notebook and pen next to my head. This morning I wrote. But it was not about things that had come to me in the night. They came to me in another place. This morning, I was just reminded of them.
I don't know about your Sunday School or Primary, but my lesson this week is about Jacob and Rachel. I did check, it is Rachel. I always get her and her mother-in-law mixed up. They are related you know. It is hard to tell them apart sometimes.
Anyway, I am teaching about how Jacob goes, meets Rachel, strikes a deal with Laban, gets Leah, strikes another deal, gets Rachel, and then strikes a final deal, and gets some livestock.
It is the latter that I have been thinking about. Jacob wanted to be prosperous. In order to obtain that goal, he needed children and livestock. But they were not just ordinary children and livestock. They needed to be unique. For his livestock, he placed straked rods at the watering troughs. His intent is that if the livestock looks at these rods all the time, they will be thinking stripes, therefore their offspring will be ringstraked, spotted, and speckled. It worked.
So, one of my thought this morning is what kind of rods did he place before his children? What kind of rod do we have at our watering holes? Where are the rods? Are they visible enough or do we need more? Shouldn't these rods in our time be prophets, seers, revelators, temples, prayer, and scriptures? I am sure we could even add to this list of rods.
Take a look around your home. What rods do you have? Are they leading you, your children, or your grandchildren in the direction that will join them with you for eternity?
Jacob was pretty bold when he did this. How bold are you being? What is your goal?
I don't know about your Sunday School or Primary, but my lesson this week is about Jacob and Rachel. I did check, it is Rachel. I always get her and her mother-in-law mixed up. They are related you know. It is hard to tell them apart sometimes.
Anyway, I am teaching about how Jacob goes, meets Rachel, strikes a deal with Laban, gets Leah, strikes another deal, gets Rachel, and then strikes a final deal, and gets some livestock.
It is the latter that I have been thinking about. Jacob wanted to be prosperous. In order to obtain that goal, he needed children and livestock. But they were not just ordinary children and livestock. They needed to be unique. For his livestock, he placed straked rods at the watering troughs. His intent is that if the livestock looks at these rods all the time, they will be thinking stripes, therefore their offspring will be ringstraked, spotted, and speckled. It worked.
So, one of my thought this morning is what kind of rods did he place before his children? What kind of rod do we have at our watering holes? Where are the rods? Are they visible enough or do we need more? Shouldn't these rods in our time be prophets, seers, revelators, temples, prayer, and scriptures? I am sure we could even add to this list of rods.
Take a look around your home. What rods do you have? Are they leading you, your children, or your grandchildren in the direction that will join them with you for eternity?
Jacob was pretty bold when he did this. How bold are you being? What is your goal?
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