Heaven Is Not Far Away

 Genesis 28:1-17

I am tired of running,

I am weary of life,

I have come to my end.

The journey has been long,

I look over both shoulders,

I am afraid of my past.

You see I am Jacob,

I have manipulated,

I have lied.

I took advantage of my brother,

I deceived my father,

I have left my mother.

Now I am alone,

I am afraid,

I have no purpose.

What has become of my life?

I have messed everything up,

No one cares for my soul.

I think I will rest now,

I will try to sleep,

My pillow is a rock.

The rock is hard,

The ground is firm,

I cannot rest.

I am all alone,

I feel at a loss,

Where do I go from here?

Ah, to my uncle Laban,

There I will find rest,

There I will start again.

I will start again,

I will make things right,

I am my own savior.

I can rest now,

My eyes grow heavy,

Sleep at last.

What is this I see?

The heavens roll back as a scroll,

Something is descending.

Ah, it is a wooden ladder,

What a strange sight,

What good is a ladder to me?

But it’s not a mere,

It something more than that,

Angels are ascending and descending.

I hear a voice,

I am afraid,

But yet it is my delight.

It is Him,

The God of my father,

And His father too.

Why would he come to me?

Speak to me,

Take knowledge of me.

I am a worm,

I am a deceiver,

I am a manipulator.

But yet the I Am comes to me,

Speaks to me,

The Great I Am loves me.

He has plans for me,

He wants to make something of me,

He wants to bring forth a nation in me.

I am so far away from home,

But heaven is so near,

Just a few steps and I am there.

You see we all are like Jacob of old,

We have lied,

We have deceived.

We have all lied to our Heavenly Father,

We have all manipulated our brother,

We have all sinned and fled from God.

But yet no matter where we are,

If we look up,

We too will see the heavens opened.

What is this I see?

Ah, the heavens are open,

And there too a piece of wood is descending.

But not like Jacob’s of old,

No, it is only made of two beams,

But yet it is steady and upright.

There is someone on it,

Not angelic in form,

But one like me, accept without scorn.

It is Jesus,

And he is on the cross,

He is dying for me.

He is dying,

For my deception,

He is dying for my manipulation.

Now that I see him,

Now that I believe,

I can rest, I can sleep.

Now I start on a new journey,

You see He has plans for me,

Things that I cannot perceive.

He will bring me home again,

And I will make amends,

Because I have made amends with Him.

Listen dear wayward soul,

No matter how far you run,

God is there waiting for you.

And if you will be still,

And let God have his say,

Then you will know that Heaven is not far away.

Pastor Robby