The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1963-08-30
Turning Point
Lesson for September 1, 1868

One Of the strange stories il
Genesis is this one of Jacob a
the brook JabbOk. Are we ex
pected to understand this stor.
literally or figuratively? And i
it is a literal story, was Jacol
wrestling with an angel Hose.
12:4, or a man Genesis 1924
25). or God Himself (Genesi,
32:30)? If you had been there
with camera and a flash bulb
what could you have seen? The
best thing to do with stories like
that. hard to take hold of ane
understand, is to ask one ques
ton about the story and stick tt
that. We have no doubt what the
incident meant to Jacob. Fol
him it was more than an Incl
dent, it was the high moment Of
all his life. 81 have seen God
face to face" he said: land vet
my life is preserved"
A Man Before and After
Last week we thought about
the story of Jacob ard Bethel
and raised the question: was
/ Jacob converted there? It does
not seem likely. because Jacob
was the same sort of sharp
dealer afterwards as he was be-
fore. He had been working for
his uncle Laban or around 20
years between the night at Beth
Ell and the night at Pencil you
n o til e Jacob named both
places, and in all that time,
while Laban was a tricky man
to deal with, and cheated his
son-in-law in various ways, it is
clear that Jacob was taking
Laban for a ride at the same
time. Each one was trying to
get some unfair advantage over
the other. Observe also what he
did the day before that fateful
night at the brook Jabbok. He
was about to meet his brother
Esau. and though 20 years had
passed since Esau swore he
would kill his brother Jacob,
Jacob feared Esau had not for
gotten his bloodthirsty vow. So
he sent some enormous pres
entS ahead to make Esau feel
better. and then he sent his
family, and then he - stayed
behind. A cheat and a coward
both. But after that night Of
struggle. Jacob was a changed
man. He goes out bravely in
front Of his family to meet
Esau; and from that day on,
while there was much sorrow in
his later years, we do not hear
OF any more sins.
BY their fruits you shall
know Them" said Jesus, speak
ing OF human beings as well as
fruit trees and shrubs. Only God
can see the heart, but neigh
borS and a mans family can
see the Life. Conversion affects
the way a person talks and
works and plays, it makes a
difference with what it takes to
make him happy. Conversion
can no more be concealed. when
1t is real, than spring-time can
be- Spring bursts out" as we
say; and SO does conversion.
But true conversion, such as we
may believe Jacobs to have
been, is not merely change in
behavior. It can be initiated by
any one who can mimic or
initiate the way converted peo-
pie act; but the genuine can be
told apart from the fake by the
fact that the genuine conversion
stays put while the fake
breaks down when serious dan
gers or difficulties arise in the
path. What makes areal con-
version real? It is the fact that
IT is rooted in the Utmost life.
centered in and growing in and
from the heart. God does not
promise us good habits which
Will produce good hearts; He
promises new hearts that will
express t h selves in GOOD
habits.
Gods House or Gods Faceo
So the great turning points Of
life are those in which some
thing vital and radical occurs in
the inner life. Now we NAV
ask: Why did this not happen at
Bethel and why did it happen
at Pei-el? A clue to this NAV
be found in those two words
7 h e m SEW S. Bethel means
House OF God an dPem-el means
Face of God. At the one place
Jacob thought he had found go
to speak Gods front door. AT
the other place he met the God
who has no doors. the God who
comes to meet men in lonely
ard terrible places. the God
whose goings cannot be sched-
uled and whose house not even
the heaven Of heavens can con
IAN. A man may go to the
house Of God, yes. even to
church, and not see God there
at all. Most people are interest
ed in their friends first ard in
their friends houses second
Maybe the reason why there
are so many not-quite converted
people around is that 81 MANY