"Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. 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, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac." 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?" "Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. "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. 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." So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. " Genesis 24:1-9
Have you ever been given a task that seemed a bit overwhelming? Maybe you felt a little unsure you could accomplish what you were asked to do. Maybe as well, you were afraid of failure…of letting someone down who was depending on you. Well, in today’s scripture, we gain great insight into how we can best approach daunting assignments when they come.
The scene starts with Abraham calling on his chief servant to give him an important assignment. Sarah, his wife and love of his life, has died. Abraham realizes that he is "old and well advanced in years" as well and may not live much longer. He feel an urgency to ensure his son Isaac has a wife before he passed away and so he sends his servant to find a woman suitable to marry Isaac. The only real restriction given to the servant was that the woman could not be a Canaanite. The servant swore an oath that he would obey Abraham’s order and sets out on a journey to Abraham’s country to find a wife for Isaac.
I think there are two very interesting items to highlight in this preliminary encounter between Abraham and his chief servant:
1. The servant is being sent back to Abraham’s country to find Isaac a wife and that’s all he’s given for guidance except for the order that the woman could not be a Canaanite. He doesn’t have any idea who he is looking for…what she looks like…what her name is…where she lives in Abraham’s country….his options are extremely broad. You almost want to say, "Is there any way you could narrow this down a little Abraham?"
What I find most fascinating is that there is a direct parallel to Abraham when God first came to him and gave him an order. You’ll remember that God told Abraham to "leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." Abraham didn’t know where he was going and yet he followed God’s tasking obediently…just like his chief servant would do for him now.
2. We are never told the servant’s name. The most we know is that he is a male. While every other key person in the event documented in Genesis 24 is named by name, the servant is called just that …servant. And I think that is by design for the events here aren’t about the servant as much as they are about Abraham, Isaac, and Rebekah.
Question: How often do we seek recognition or acknowledgement for our role in carrying out God’s plan? Too often, I’m afraid. Our human nature wants us to be the center of attention. We have a hunger for recognition…to be noticed. And as in so many other matters, God’s expectation for us is in direct conflict with our human nature. Like the servant, the Lord wants us to adopt an attitude of humility that would serve Him obediently to glorify Him, not ourselves. Our reward is already secured through Jesus Christ and one day we will claim our inheritance. Until then, we are to get out onto the field and execute the game plan that God draws up for us. We need to do so prayerfully and thankfully, yearning only to please God in a way that He might look down on us and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Through the example of Abraham’s servant, we get an excellent view of service and how to do it right. The servant was given tasking that was broad and extremely challenging…yet he went with an oath to carry our Abraham’s will…just as Abraham had done before him.
Question: What is God calling you to do today? Are you ready to respond in faithful obedience…no matter the cost? Are you ready to trust Him, knowing that He will lead you to where He wants you to be and guide you to what He wants you to do? Are you ready to go where He might send you? True discipleship answers yes to all these questions. It’s the essence of servanthood.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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