Genesis 25:6-6, Protecting Isaac

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.  But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

We pride ourselves in preparing our children for the adult world. We gradually expose them to more complex moral decisions as they grow older. It seems like a good plan. We don’t want them to be so naive that they fall for any snare the world mounts against them.

This is far different from allowing stumbling blocks to litter their pathway. We allow our children to have computers in their own rooms…unsupervised. We allow them to watch movies that we, ourselves, should be embarrassed to watch. We allow them to dress in provocative attire so they are not ridiculed at school. We allow them to “talk back” to us because they need to learn to express themselves.

And, of course, we wring our hands when things don’t go well…

As an alternative approach…Abraham removed everything from Isaac’s life that could threaten him, or might contend for Isaac’s rightful birthright. Abraham put Isaac in a position of uncontested privilege.

I know…we like to say the battles do our kids good. They grow up. I suggest there is a huge difference between the challenges God brings to our children for their benefit…and the challenges Satan brings for their destruction.

Are we, as parents, willing to take the time and energy to discern the difference?

Live boldly out there today…

Genesis 24:50, Abraham’s servant makes his case

“This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.”

“I think…”

This is one of the most popular phrases in debate…and the weakest.

Abraham’s servant was very careful to present his position…in detail… to Rebekah’s family. He was so fastidious that when he was done nobody had any questions. The workings of God in the process were so self-evident that there was nothing left to say.

This makes me wonder…when we find ourselves embroiled in debate…if the problem is as much us, as it is others. Have we made a solid case that God is the active agent in our argument? Have we gotten ourselves “prayed up” so we fell certain we are hearing God correctly?

It seems uncharitable to suggest folks disagree with us simply because they are disagreeable. Perhaps our arguments just aren’t that convincing. Our problem is, we love to argue. Mostly because an argument can be liberally spiced with opinion. Facts are often superfluous.

More to the point…this wasn’t an argument in the first place. This was nothing more than a narrative of God’s activity in the search for Rebekah. Nothing but the facts. It’s very difficult to argue with the facts.

Live boldly out there today…

 

Genesis 24:15, The search for Rebekah

“Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder”.

I love this story…

How often are we able to see an answer before we even finish asking the question? Not often. But then, we aren’t often watching as carefully either. Abraham’s servant had his eyes glued to that well. He was watching everything that transpired. He couldn’t miss Rebekah.

Plus, he was very specific. In his prayer he said “when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

I wonder how many answers we miss simply because our lack of specificity makes it nearly impossible to recognize an answer…or we are paying such poor attention that the answer walks right by.

That wouldn’t sound like God’s fault to me…

Live boldly out there today…

Genesis 22:2, Mount Moriah

“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

God has taken a lot of grief for this one. The skeptics use it as an excuse to not believe. After all…How could a loving God ask anybody to sacrifice their child?

Please…!

As though God could not see the end from the beginning. He’s been doing it since creation. It was never about Isaac. It was always about Abraham…who couldn’t see the end from the beginning. As far as he know…He was about to lose a son.

To some degree God continues to test every one of us. What do we suppose “thou shall not have any other gods before me” means? God continually tests our fidelity. Tell a young missionary mother that her child will be living in an entirely different country…for several years. I’ll bet she can identify with Abraham on Mount Moriah. Yet, she agrees to it, with the same trepidation I’m sure Abraham felt.

Moreover, God’s not doing this for His benefit but for ours. It is the testing that brings courage. The more successful our response, the more confident our walk. The person who has never been tested is the person who doesn’t know their capabilities.

I know we sometimes fail but…take courage. There will be another test shortly. Failure is not intended to humiliate us but to remind us that we can only be successful when we lean on God.

Live boldly out there today…

Genesis 21:10 , A house divided

“Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

We almost forgot about Ishmael…but Sarah didn’t. As she adored her own son Isaac she saw the son of Hagar mocking her. That’s all it took.

Abraham was conflicted. Fatherly pride surely gave him a love for Ishmael that Sarah would never share. He didn’t want to send them away. But God said “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned”.  So…away they went into the desert.

Hagar and Ishmael were victims of Abraham and Sarah’s manipulations. It seems God is the champion of victims. So, rather than let them die in the desert God intervened…and promised to make Ishmael the father of a great nation. God surely knew the future headaches.

However, God always does what’s right regardless of the consequences. This, of course, is why we often suffer for our bad behavior. It may not be God punishing us at all. It may be God bringing justice to somebody we have injured.

Interesting…

Live boldly out there today…

Genesis 20:17, Abraham makes amends

“Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again.”

At least Abraham cleaned up after himself. We all know Christians who travel around making messes and never bothering to clean up. They leave the wreckage for others to take care of. Often it’s lay-people destroying their pastors. Sometimes it’s the other way around.

Either way it’s not becoming…

I have a hunch none of us will survive a long life without making a mess of something. It’s human nature. The divine part of us ought to take responsibility and clean things up. I know it takes humility to admit we have failed but…Philippians 2 reminds us that humility is a quality Christ modeled for us.

Live boldly out there today…

Genesis 20:11, Abraham and Abimelech

There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

Really, again? Abraham did this once already. Wasn’t it painful enough? Didn’t he learn his lesson? We don’t…if we’re addicts.

It reminds me of a book I once read, Sin as Addiction. The author suggests we are all addicted to sin…it just takes different forms. In Abraham’s case the addiction seems to be fear. When confronted with his deception Abraham said “there is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.”

Fear makes us do unsavory things. When I think about all of my sins I could probably attribute many of them to fear. We would like to say fear has no real moral import. On the contrary…if it leads us to doubt that God will supply all our needs, it’s sin.

Think about it…how has fear driven your life lately?

Live boldly out there today…