阅读经文 

今天的故事带我们来到雅各生命中一个决定性的时刻。以撒已经老了，眼睛几乎失明。现在他要把祝福传给长子以扫，包括从神而来特别的祝福和应许。于是雅各在母亲的教唆下开始了行动。

雅各马上意识到潜在的危险：万一母亲的计划失败怎么办？万一被父亲发现自己撒谎怎么办？

但无论如何，雅各还是同意了这个阴谋，其结果令每个人都很痛苦。

这个故事留给我们一个更深层次的问题：一个人真的能策划一条通往神的恩赐、昌盛、成功和荣耀的路吗？尽管有顾虑，雅各还是愿意试一试。然而，他不是唯一的一个。我们也可能会昧着良心认为，可能我们最好的方式就是走捷径，夸大事实，或巧妙地暗中破坏别人。就像雅各一样，我们主要关心的往往只是我们自己应该得到的东西，却不管得到的方式。

但是，圣经提醒我们，与神的关系的祝福是不能被操纵的。在神眼中的荣耀和昌盛只能是个礼物。所有其他的努力都将使我们走上痛苦的道路，直到我们学会藉着主的工作过蒙恩的生活。

Today's story brings us to a decisive moment in Jacob's life. Isaac has grown old, and he is nearly blind. And now he intends to pass along his blessing to Esau as the firstborn, including special blessings and promises from God. So Jacob is spurred to action by his mother.

Jacob rightly senses the potential for disaster: What if his mother's plan doesn't work? What if his father discovers the lie?

But Jacob goes along with the plot anyway, and the result will be painful for everyone.

The story leaves us with a deeper question: Can a person really scheme their way into God's gifts of prosperity, success, and honor? Despite his misgivings, Jacob is willing to try. But he is not the only one. We too can ignore our conscience when we think that maybe our best bet is to cut corners, to stretch the truth, or to subtly undermine others. Like Jacob, our main concern is often only that we should get what we want, no matter how we go about it.

But the Bible reminds us that the blessing of a relationship with God cannot be gained by manipulation. Honor and prosperity in God's sight can only be a gift. All other efforts will set us on a painful course until we learn to live by grace through the Lord's work.