Wednesday, January 12, 2011

I Will Go - Now

Genesis 24:58b - ...and she said, "I will go."

There is an account in Genesis where Abraham seeks a wife for his chosen son, Isaac. He sends a servant to his people in another land because he does not want Isaac to have a wife from those in Canaan.

Abraham gave specific instructions and as the servant reached his destination he prayed as Abraham suggested: Genesis 24:12-14 - ... "O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink'--let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master." 

A beautiful woman appeared and she did exactly what he had prayed. Her name was Rebekah and she happened to be the daughter of Laban, of the people Abraham had come from. 

Rebekah took him to her brother and the servant again described all that Abraham had desired. Laban accepted the offer, realizing God had blessed Abraham and Isaac and perhaps understanding that his sister would be part of that blessing...and perhaps he would too. An engagement of sorts transpired. The servant was to immediately take her to her bridegroom. For some reason family wanted her to stay a few more days. They saw no need for her to rush off.

Genesis 24:55-58 - But her brother and her mother said, "Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go." And he said to them, "Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master." So they said, "We will call the young woman and ask her personally." Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go." 

I see a similarity here to another story. Jesus asks us to "Follow Me." He asked this of everyone He called. It's an invitation now, not later. It costs us something and that generally is a separation from the world now. You've made the choice. Matthew 8:21-22 showed us the reaction of one of His called out disciples: "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." 

Let the dead bury the dead. Let the world bury their own. If you do not follow Christ you are dead in sin. If you are in Christ you are no longer in the world. Your duty is now to Follow Me. Then you will become dead to sin and alive in Christ. You either leave the world immediately for Him or you hang on to the world. A person is considered dead until the life of Christ becomes a reality to them. That should be a sobering thought. There are no "buts" when it comes to Christ. It's all or nothing...or at least it should be. And here again I can't emphasize any more that it's not about what church or denomination or the fact that you call yourself a Christian...it's the relationship...like a husband and wife. 

Jesus calls us. He chooses us. If we have chosen to follow Christ, we have been called to become His bride and to share in the future marriage supper of the Lamb. "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" (Revelation 19:9). We are called by Christ. But there's a condition to this. We must follow now. When He says, Follow me, He's not saying when it is convenient, when we have taken care of our things first or lived our lives the way we want to first. It must be now. We cannot wait. Even like the five virgins who were not ready, we must be ready now. 

We don't know the day or hour the Lord will return. This is why NOW is the time. People generally make provision for their death by having insurance before they die. Jesus is our insurance/assurance of life everlasting. He is something we need now, not after the fact.

I see something else in this story above. Abraham is a type of God, the Father. Isaac is a type of Jesus. The servant is a type of Holy Spirit. Rebekah represents the bride of Christ...willing to follow the Holy Spirit's lead to find her Bridegroom. Abraham did not want Isaac to marry a woman from Canaan where he now resided. These people were wicked and idolaters, which represents the world. God doesn't want us to "marry" into the world but to separate ourselves. That is why He has sent His Holy Spirit to ask us to betroth ourselves to His Son. 

Abraham gave all he had to Isaac, his chosen son...inheritance, blessings, even a bride to carry on descendants into the line of Christ. God has given all He has to His chosen Son, Jesus...and Jesus has given all for us whom He has chosen. It is up to us to receive. He came to take us out of this world through relationship with Him. It is God-designed. It offers more than we could receive here on earth. It offers eternal life in Christ.

Later as the account goes on, Rebekah has twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau is the first born but chooses to relinquish his birthright to Jacob over a bowl of stew because he was hungry and needed to fill an immediate desire. When he does this he becomes one that represents the world. Although Jacob is considered a deceiver and inherits the rights to the first born through underhanded means, he is blessed...and becomes a descendant in the line of Christ.

There is always this world view and God's view going on. One takes the way of the world and satisfies his own needs the way he thinks it should be done...and loses out on the blessings...while the other goes by way of the Lord and obtains the blessings God has. 


It's our decision to make to follow God now or wait until later. Our future is in His hands now matter which decision we make. We follow Him into blessings or we choose to hopefully find our own blessings. Choosing our own will cause a feeling of never truly being fulfilled. Do you want water or Living Water that removes your thirst? It's your decision. Consider one of God's promises, however:


Hosea 2:19-20 - "I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD."

1 comment:

  1. Follow Me .. so simple, yet the most difficult thing we'll ever do.

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