Friday 7 Jul 2023

July 7: Genesis 24:1-8

Key Verse: 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.

Devotion:
When Abraham’s wife died, he called for one of his senior servants to come and go on a mission for him. It sounds like a very strange mission for us nowadays, but was not unheard of in those days when marriages were arranged rather than people meeting each other and falling in love. You may think of this as a archaic way of doing things but what was happening here was not because of greed, pride or wanting prosperity; what was happening was the people involved were doing their best to listen to God.

Abraham knew he was not to give a local woman to Isaac for a wife but to go back to where they came from for a wife. But he also knew they should not return to their home town because God had promised Abraham he would have the land where they were staying at the time.

I don’t know if you have ever had to leave the place of your birth to go and live and work in a place far away. It is life-changing. But the reason for moving to another place and taking up roots is also life-changing. God does not want us to lust after land, money or other earthly treasures, but to try to seek Him out at all times and to obey what He asks of us. If we can do that, then wherever we end up, God is going to look after us!

Abraham and his servant did all they could to follow God’s wishes and trusted fully God would deliver the right person at the right time for Isaac. When the servant arrived at the town where Abraham’s relatives lived he asked God for guidance as to whom was suitable for Isaac. God chose Rebekah as the woman to marry Isaac and made sure the servant knew this was the right woman. They all listened to God’s guidance!

Points to Ponder:
Do you have difficult decisions to make?

Will you allow God to guide you in those choices?