A Work in Progress….

Genesis 24:26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 

I love a good analogy, and commentary contains a great analogy about verse 27, where the servant says that he was already in motion (one version says “on the way”) when God led him to Rebekah: “It is hard to steer a parked car.”

Genesis 24:27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

If we want God to use us, we have to be “on the way,” so that all He has to do is steer us while we are in motion. I really think that ties in perfectly with seeking, seeing, questioning, asking, investigating to try to discern God’s will in any given situation. If we are on the move, trying to see where He is leading us, trying to see if we are going in the right direction, He can nudge us any way He needs.

Genesis 24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.

Precious Savior, You know I love a good analogy. Thank You for putting this one on my radar this morning. Thank You that I can so clearly see what You need of me–to move, to seek, to investigate–so that You can guide me to where I can be Your hands and feet. Help me, always, to find You, to shine Your light. Amen.

Genesis 24:29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 24:2 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

Lord, Sometimes we want what we want so badly that we do everything we can to make it happen. When it doesn’t happen, we fall apart because we have planned and worked so carefully to make our plan a success. Help us to know the difference between doing what You need us to to accomplish Your will and acting out of stubbornness to achieve our own.

Genesis 24:22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 

You have told us in Isaiah 55:8, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts…And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” “Not yet” is not a no. “Your way is not my way” is not a no. And I’ve lived long enough to know that Your plans are so much bigger than anything we can imagine. Help us as we try to discern Your will in our lives.

Genesis 24:23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

Precious Savior, Forgive us when we get ahead of You. Forgive us when we are so eager that we don’t take time to listen and wait on Your will. Help us to seek Your will in our lives, to pray and wait, listen and obey, to know that You love us more than we are capable of loving and that Your plan, no matter how different, is so much greater than anything we can imagine for ourselves. Amen.

Genesis 24:24-25 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 24:17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

Fun Fact: A camel can drink up to 20 gallons of water in one go. And Abraham’s servant had, according to commentary, ten camels. That would easily add up to an hour of work to water them. So Rebekah not only offers the servant water, she offers water to the camels “until they have had enough to drink.” That is a generous heart at work.

Genesis 24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

And remember that verse 15 tells us that Rebekah appears “before he had finished praying.” God listened and provided before the words were even out of his mouth. Sometimes it is like that. I’ve prayed to find something I’ve misplaced, and before the words are fully out of my mouth, I find the thing. Some would argue that’s just luck, but I’m giving credit to God. Thank You, Jesus.

Genesis 24:19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 

Precious Savior, Sometimes You answer our prayers before they are even fully formed. Sometimes Your answer is “Wait” or “Not Yet” or “That’s not My will for you,” even when we have prayed for so long and with such heart that we are so very weary. Help us to seek and discern Your will with faithful hearts. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 24:20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 24:13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 

What strikes me today is the servant’s faith that his prayer will be answered, that God will guide him to the right decision. I absolutely understand that philosophy. Ending up at App with a Teaching Fellows, finding a house to rent after college, getting my job at AC, meeting the man who would become my beloved husband–all felt like God was leading me, guiding me.

Genesis 24:14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘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.”

But whether God was leading me or whether I allowed Him to use me, to guide me where I was, I’m not sure either is the point. The point is hope. The point is faith. The point is believing that there is a God, that He is good and sovereign and in control–maybe not of every tiny piece of minutiae but definitely of the bigger picture, that’s faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1.

Genesis 24:15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for the faith, the hope, the conviction I have in who You are, who You are in this world, who You are in eternity, and who You are to me. Guide my actions, guide my steps, guide my words, so that I may shine Your light and point others to You. Use me where I am, and help me to be where You need me to be. Amen.

Genesis 24:16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 24:9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

Commentary was very enlightening on today’s verses. For instance, verse 10 doesn’t seem to indicate any real distance from where the servant departed in Canaan to where he stopped in Nahor. However, commentary says that it was at least 500 miles between the two as the crow flies and the most common route would have been 900 miles. That’s a long way.

Genesis 24:10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 

And when he arrived at his destination, his first concern was practical (water for the camels) and his second was spiritual (prayers for success for his mission). I think there is much to be observed here about obedience, perseverance, prayers, and giving of yourself for others.

Genesis 24:11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

Precious Savior, I absolutely know that in this world we live in, we can all do with learning more about putting You first, about obedience, perseverance, prayers, and giving of yourself for others. Sometimes it feels like it is every person for himself, but that’s not Your way, and that’s not what You call us to. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 24:12 Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”

Holy Father, You know that this is a difficult time of year for many of us. We have seen the promise of spring–of new growth, of longer days, of warm sunshine and riotous flowers–but we aren’t there yet. Winter still has a grip on our hearts. Help us to not only survive but to thrive during this season.

Genesis 24:6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 

Gentle Creator, This is the day that You have made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it, even if we are grumpy or tired, angry or bitter, frustrated or out of sorts. Help us to put that aside and focus on You, on this new day, this new opportunity. Help us to show up, to be present, to shine Your light today.

Genesis 24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 

Precious Savior, Some are struggling with winter blahs. Some are struggling with a long, dark night of the soul. Some are struggling with lack of sleep and too much stress, but so many are struggling right now. Help us to turn to You. Help us to lay every burden at Your feet. Help us to wrap ourselves in Your peace and rest as we show up for You in this day. Help us. Amen.

Genesis 24:8 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.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 24:1 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 

I am not a very patient person, and I have officially reached the point in Genesis where I’d like to just skip ahead, maybe out of this book entirely, which is probably bad as we aren’t even halfway through the 50 chapters of Genesis yet.

Genesis 24:2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 

So today I am trying to stop and breathe, refocus myself on God and His word. He called me to begin at the beginning of His word. He called me to go through line by line. There is something for me here. If nothing else, learning the patience to breathe and sit and pray and listen. Jesus, Help me.

Genesis 24:3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 

Precious Savior, I know You called me back to Your word. You know how antsy I can get. Help me to be present in this moment, present in this scripture. Help me to breathe, to read, to ponder, to seek You in every word and every line. Thank You for sitting with me, this morning and every morning. Help me to show up and be present. Amen.

Genesis 24:4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 23:17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 

Both commentaries mentioned business practices that we see Abraham engage in. According to these verses, business dealings should be courteous, fair, and prudent; fair, open, and above-board. I’m not convinced that everyone in business these days subscribes to these practices. It’s definitely something that everyone needs to examine in their own dealings.

Genesis 23:18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 

One commentary also mentions that Sarah’s burial plot is the first land that Abraham owns and that that fact should help ground us all and keep us focused on our impact in this life and not on collecting physical possessions. As the saying goes, “None of us are going to make it out of here alive.” And we can’t take anything with us when we go. So it makes sense to focus on the good we can do while we are here.

Genesis 23:19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 

Precious Savior, Once again I am reminded of the Ram Dass quote, “We are all just walking each other home.” This world is not our home, and we can’t take anything with us when we go. Help us to focus on relationships with others, on being your hands and feet, on doing all the good that we can while we are here. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 23:20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, 

Some variation of the phrase “bury your dead” is repeated seven times in this short chapter. SEVEN. That feels significant to me somehow, especially since the number seven in the Bible often symbolizes completeness or perfection. My brief internet search didn’t reveal any insight into the significance, though, and neither did my commentary reading.

Genesis 23:15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

I will say that death and grief are hard for me, for most of us. Our culture doesn’t really teach us how to live with death, how to handle it in a way that honors our grief, that honors our loved ones. If it were Jesus saying, “Bury your dead” in this chapter, I would think the message is to not get so consumed in our grief that we lose sight of our purpose–to shine His light while we are here. Maybe it’s a reminder of the eternal hope of heaven, that we will see them again one day?

Genesis 23:16a Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites:

Precious Savior, Death, grief, and loss are hard for so many of us. I don’t know the significance of the repetition of “bury your dead,” but I know for certain it isn’t You calling us to “shake it off” and move on. I think You don’t want us to get mired in those feelings of grief and loss. You want us to have hope in You. Always. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 23:16b four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 23:10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 

The commentary that I have been using says that today’s exchange is common when it comes to the negotiation of price at that time. The party that owns the land offers to give it freely, knowing that the other party will refuse. Party two refuses, knowing that it is part of the negotiation process. Party one offers a price that is high as a starting point for negotiations, and party two negotiates from there.

Genesis 23:11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

The commentary I pulled up yesterday had a completely different spin. It posited that Ephron offered to give Abraham the land because Ephron is generous and Abraham has been generous. This is a sign of respect for that generosity. Commentary says Abraham refused 1. out of a sense of justice. He wanted to be sure Ephron got the money he deserved for his land and 2. because Abraham didn’t want any future heirs of Ephron to contest Sarah’s right to be buried there.

Genesis 23:12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 

Precious Savior, Reading scripture can be confusing enough without completely different accounts in commentary. Thank You for the ability to see varying accounts as possibilities since none of us were there to really know. Thank You for the ability to read various accounts so that I can make up my own mind about a situation. Help me draw closer to You. Always. Amen.

Genesis 23:13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

Have a blessed day.