Read Genesis 49:3-4 – Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch. (NKJV)
Jacob’s firstborn son is a man of contradictions. Blessed with great leadership potential, he seems to struggle with making the choices that can demonstrate that potential. Here, in his father’s words of “blessing”, his potential is clear, and so is his chosen path of failure. Each of us has a lot in common with Reuben. We are blessed with a story of possibilities, but whether we fulfill that potential will hinge on the choices we make. Excellence is the available road, but we must choose it. And we will get the life that awaits at the end of our choices. Jacob’s sad observation “you shall not excel” would hang as a weight over Reuben’s remaining days. His choices had removed him from the “A” path and if he continued in those choices, he would forever be blocked from finding that road.
– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.
National Men’s Leadership Conference: March 8-10, 2012 . Dallas, Texas . www.men.ag.org
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