What does it mean to change? I don’t just mean surface level change here, but to really see deep transformation, to walk away at least slightly different than we were?

This morning as I sat with my coffee and devotion book, I opened my Bible to Genesis 32. Genesis 32 covers a lot of ground as Jacob prepares to face his brother Esau for the first time in many years. Due to events in the brother’s past, Jacob assumes Esau will not deal with him in a favorable way and begins to make preparations in light of that fact.

My time this morning focused specifically in Genesis 32:22-31. In these few verses a powerful moment takes place. Jacob, in anticipation of the meeting with Esau, gathers up his family and takes them to safer territory further back. After securing his family, he is alone.

At some point while he is alone, Jacob finds himself in a wrestling match. Now, one thing to know about Jacob is that he is about as stubborn as a mule and does not like to come in second to anyone (hence his problem with Esau). Jacob’s wrestling match with this unknown man lasts all night as neither forfeits the match to the other. When daybreak comes and the man notices that Jacob is not going to relent, the man touches Jacob’s hip and  puts it out of joint (which any good athlete will tell you will stop you in your tracks).

Certainly, with his hip out of joint, Jacob would let go, but he is extremely stubborn and does not. His stubbornness leads to a conversation with the man in which Jacob, recognizing something about the man, demands a blessing. The man in turn asks Jacob’s name and, after Jacob responds, he gives him a new name: “Israel.” The passage ends with the sun coming up and Jacob limping off into the light, changed forever because of his encounter with God.

I think Jacob is a good example for us. He is stubborn, so are we. He demands something from God and often, so do we. He is changed by his encounter with God, and so should we. How often do we actually live changed lives though? I’m not talking about becoming a different person, certainly we still have some of the same traits about us, but an encounter with God should change us.

Jacob walks away from the wrestling match with a new name and a new limp. There would have been no doubt to those around him that something had happened overnight that had changed the man. Often, though, I wonder if our own encounters with Christ show in the world around us.

Don’t get me wrong, Jacob struggled as he moved toward his change. He wrestled all night with someone that had the power to put his hip out of joint. He had to struggle before change came and so do we. I just wonder why often we don’t walk away from our encounters with Christ, like Jacob from his wrestling match, visibly changed.

Jesus teaches that we are to love the world around us. We are to share his love (that is so abundant it flows over, by the way) with everyone we come into contact with. This principle of Christ’s love is to permeate everything about us: our work, our politics, our religious practices, our family life: the list goes on and on.

Yet, I don’t think the change that Christ’s love has made shines through in each of those things for many members of Christ’s Church. Instead, in our stubbornness, we spew hate, throw fits when things don’t go the way we think they should, and almost gloat when they do. Does that sound like we’re living into the new name Christ has given us?

Paul reminds us that, in Christ: “we are a new creation.” This means that we should walk away from encountering Christ noticeably transformed (our limp, so to speak). Just like Jacob and, eventually the people that would bear his name (Israel), through this encounter we’ve become the  holy (set apart) children of God who are to share the love and teachings of Christ with all those we whom we come into contact.

So, is the fact that you’ve encountered God a noticeable transformation or are you still stubbornly holding on to your pride? Are you approaching situations and life as Jacob limped up to Esau, noticeably changed, or are you looking very unlike the Christ who has given you a new name? We are new, we are different, we are changed. If not then, perhaps we need to stop where we are and wrestle with God some more.

Let us be changed. Let us be set apart. Let us be the new creation Christ is calling us to be and then, like Jacob, walk into the light of a new day and change the world.