Being Accepted

 We all have a fear of not being accepted by other people. This fear can lead us to do the wrong things in order to be accepted. That is a very harmful thing for us. However, that drive to be accepted can be a good desire, too. It can cause us to do whatever we can do to connect with others and have a good relationship with them. Jacob had a great fear that when he saw his brother, Esau, that he would still be angry with him and want to kill him. This led Jacob to go to great lengths to appease his brother by sending gifts. However, Esau had cooled off over the 20 years of being apart, and now he was ready to accept Jacob. (Genesis 33:10) Jacob even had to beg him to accept his gifts. He explained how much joy he had because he saw Esau's face, and Esau accepted him. It was as though he had seen the face of God. That says volumes to me, and I hope it speaks to all of us.

What a joy it would be to see the face of God! It would be a great thrill to know that God would allow us to enter His presence and to get close to Him. It would especially be fantastic that God would not reject us, but accept us fully. That is the same way we should feel when we are accepted by another person who is made in the image of God. By being accepted by them we feel love, and we have a connection that enables us to help each other. This same feeling happens when we are forgiven fully by another person in our life. We know they have put their unforgiveness aside, and now we are friends with them again. I pray we would all experience this acceptance over and over again, as we do what we can do to really love people as Jesus loves them. This will bring joy to our heart as often as we are lovingly accepted.

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Tomorrow, I Intend to read Genesis 34-36.