Leah: Lesson 4

You can't tell me that the Bible is boring after reading this. If it was a soap opera, I would totally watch it :)

Last time we saw Leah and Rachel, they were in a constant competition for their husband. Do you blame them? Not only were two sisters competing, but they were also competing with their two maids. Since having sons meant carrying on the family name, they were trying to win Jacob over with the most kids. Weird huh?

One day during the harvest season, Leah's son Reuben found some mandrakes and brought them home. Now I know you're thinking "Whats a mandrake?!?" Well, a mandrake was pretty much a "love apple" lol. It supposedly opened someones womb who was unable to have any more children. uh huh.....

Well, Rachel wanted the "love apples", but Leah wasn't buying it that easily. She said, "Wasn't it enough that you got my husband away from me? And now you also want my son's mandrakes?" So Rachel made a deal with her sister. She could have her husband for one night in exchange for the apples.

After that night Leah became pregnant with two sons and a daughter. God then remembered Rachel and made her able to have children. She named her son Joseph ( the one who ends up getting the colorful coat...) Isn't it cool how this all connects?! How drama in the parents life leads to drama and hardship for the siblings? Interesting....

But that's a different story. Both Rachel and Leah were manipulating each other to get what they wanted. Not very wise in the long run, but then again, we do it all the time! We may not realize it, but we totally do. But what is wisdom?

Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Wisdom can be defined in James 3:14-18 as "gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold next, not two-faced". And personally, I'm pretty sure that I don't fit those outlines all the time.

The fact is, It all comes from envy. When we see something we want, it becomes a competition to get it. Then we use manipulation to get what we want.

Hebrews 13:5 says, "Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, 'I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you."

We take so many things for granted, yet we always want more, it's always a competition to get it, we're always manipulating, and it's always dragging us further from God.

What role does envy play in your life? Thoughts? Please? :)