Years after cheating Esau out of his birthright, a worried Jacob prepares to meet him. As he approaches, he sends wave after wave of gifts - animals etc, to appease the brother he imagines may well still want to kill him. Anyway, it turns out Esau has forgiven his brother, and says he can have his gifts back, to which Jacob replies "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favour in your eyes, accept this gift from me...Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need". And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. Gen 33:10-11
What I love here is the way Jacob insisted on being good to his brother, just like that persistence we saw earlier in the blog when it came to Abraham blessing his guests with a meal. Again, it hit me how we should be generous - God gives to us so that we can be a river of giving, not a reservoir to store it all up for ourselves.
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