The Way of Blessing

The portrait of Jacob is more complex than any of the other main characters in this book. His life, recounted in its entirety, occupies half of its 50 chapters. Very unlike the pious and God-fearing Abraham or the compliant Isaac, Jacob is the more problematic son. Self-absorbed and self-reliant — continually striving with God and man — he’s a lot more like many of us.

We discover here that the purposes of God are often tangled in a web of self-interest and self-seeking. God does not call us because of who are we but who He believes we can become.