Death really sucks. I've lost a ton of grandparents and family friends, and every time I go to a funeral I'm reminded of the beauty of life, but also the sadness that comes with death.
Abraham had two people in his life that were close to them. One of them, Isaac, he was asked to sacrifice. Fortunately, God intervened. The other, his wife that protected and stayed with him amidst all the travel, passed away.
That must have been devastating. Sarah and Abraham went through so much together - nobody else in Abraham's life had seen God work like Sarah had. Their names were changed together, descendants were promised to them together, and a son was born to them together when they thought that a son would never come.
So Abraham wants to honor his precious wife with a burial place suited for the best.
The Hittites love him, so this is no hard task. The hardest bit of the whole thing was getting them to let him pay for it.
I'm seriously impressed with the generosity of the Hittites here. To offer whole plots of land - free of charge. I want to be this kind of generous in my own life.
I'm also thoroughly impressed with Abraham's insistence to pay them for their land. I think that's admirable, and I love that he doesn't take advantage of them.
I think Sarah would definitely be proud of the whole thing.
Genesis 24
"...and The Lord had blessed him in every way." What a brilliant opener for a chapter.
I think we too are blessed in every way as much, if not more, than even Abraham was! I think the the key difference between our lives and Abe's is the shift in perspective. Abraham's life itself he considered a blessing. Unfortunately, I myself spend more time thinking of what I need, than I do remembering how absolutely beyond blessed I am.
In an effort to work on this, I'm going to begin recording Jesus sightings. These are little rays of light I see throughout my day - I'm not going to wait to write them down, but rather, am going to record them as I see them. I cannot wait to begin, because I already know Jesus is everywhere, but to keep him in mind as I see him throughout the day should be a brilliant shift in perspective for me.
Perspective talk aside, can we discuss how awkward making an oath must have been in that time? I totally get that the "hand beneath thigh" is an act of vulnerability and stuff, and that's awesome, but seriously it makes me feel weird. I'm all set with my pinky promise.
I love Abraham's view on morals, too. "If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” (Genesis 24:8 NIV). He leads us by example; I take it sort of as Abraham's way of saying, "don't settle for just any woman. God has set aside the right one for my son, and if she doesn't fit the bill, then he didn't intend for it to be anyway."
That's a bit of an ambitious standard to hold us to, but an inspiring one nonetheless.
God gets that we sometimes need signs. The servant of Abe did, as seen in his prayer in verse 14. Note that God gave him his sign. I love this little proverb I learned lately about our glorious creator: "just ask Him. He'll tell you."
Let me also point out how quickly God answered his prayer. I mean, he hadn't even finished praying before this woman walked up. And she absolutely fit the bill.
God worked so much in this servant's favor. First, he made the mission get accomplished fast. Then, he provided a place for the servant to stay, through Rebekah's family. In addition to all this, the servant got the bonus of sharing the love of God with these strangers. And they received it joyfully.
Lastly, I want to think about the character of Rebekah. Her faith, too, was incredible. She trusted God to guide and protect her, though she was about to journey with a strange man who came to deliver her to her stranger husband.
Once Rebekah met Isaac, they got married. I love the last little thought at the end of the last verse: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. The fact that Rebekah, who was a stranger to Isaac, was able to bring his heart that much joy after the death of his mama, is gorgeous. I want to do that for people.
Rebekah is awesome.
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