God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” (Genesis 35:10)
Many times it’s not that we need to know more, but it’s about really applying the information we already have. The answers to so many of our problems is not absorbing new information, but digging deeper into what we currently possess. We need God’s word to influence our head, heart, and hands. We need that biblical information to turn into wisdom applied. But because we often move like snails when it comes to really applying God’s truth in our lives, God in his loving patience will reteach the things he’s already shown us too many times to count.
In this chapter, God repeats and also reaffirms several important things for Jacob. God has previously said these things to him, but because Jacob is like us (stubborn-hearted people), God in his kindness will run through them again, until he starts to get it. God tells Jacob to return to Bethel (35:1). God calls Jacob to go back to the place where he first met El Shaddai (28:13, 35:11). God reminded Jacob of the words he had said to him years ago. God repeated to Jacob that his new name is “Israel” (32:28, 35:10). And again, God told Jacob about the calling over his life (35:11-12).
Did Jacob forget this as the years kept passing by? Did he doubt it would ever happen? Or was Jacob not really applying the newness of life God gave him? It seems that God had to bring Jacob back to the beginning, repeat the things he told him, so that he would dig deeper into it, and it would start to really shape his life. Shaping his life to the point that it was influencing his decision-making. That’s when information turns into wisdom applied.
And so for you today, maybe the answer is not digesting a bunch of new books, but rather go back to old one’s that spoke profoundly to you. Maybe it’s about going back to “Bethel” and actually applying the things God had previously shown you. Finally, ask yourself these two questions: “What recurring Scripture verse, theme, godly principle, gospel lesson, or truth does God keep showing me?” and “Is it influencing the way I make decisions during my day?”