Genesis 30:16 (NKJV)

“When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, ‘You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ And he lay with her that night.”

Sexual intercourse must never be merchandised and never more so in a marital relationship. The husband and wife are called to perform due diligence to each other as an obligation of love, not even as a contractual agreement of marriage. Once love is no longer the basis for sexual interaction, then it loses its vital ingredient and composition.

Leah used her son’s mandrakes to get Rachel to permit Jacob to spend the night with her. And Rachel obliged. But when Leah met Jacob, her words exposed her understanding of what happened: ‘you MUST come in to me, for I have HIRED you…’ She compelled him because she had paid for him to sleep with her!! What abnormalcy.

May sex in our marriage homes be built on love and love alone; never on merchandise or compulsion.

“Oh Lord, make our homes places of pure love and not compulsory sexual transactions. For the unmarried, make them see sex as a holy vehicle of contractual love; not a tool for favor grabbing or personal satisfaction. Amen.”