a child of god
this is the way, run in it
I've been loving reading in Genesis these last few weeks. So many gems from that book, but tonight what I'd like to write about is blood - blood lines and family, to be exact. Abraham was promised by God, in a covenant no less, that he, Abraham, would be the father of a huge nation. A nation as large as the stars in the sky or the sand on the beach by the ocean - uncountable. "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, ad be blameless. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly...you shall be the father of a multitude of nations" (Genesis 17:1-4).
The only problem with this scenario is that Abraham and Sarah, his wife, were childless. They couldn't have a child. So they tried to make the promise happen in their own way - Sarah talked Abraham into taking her maid, Hagar, as his wife as well and having a child with her. Which he did. And Ishmael is born. What a mess! 13 years later, God reiterates His promise to Abraham, that Abraham and Sarah will bear the child of the promise, and Abraham is like - but what about Ishmael?! And God says, that wasn't My plan. My plan was and still is for the child of promise to be born through you and Sarah. God promised an Isaac. Abraham and Sarah, via Hagar, produced an Ishmael. Sometimes the waiting is hard. When we have a promise from God, we have to wait and pray until He brings it to pass. We need to wait for the Isaac and not create an Ishmael. After Isaac is born, Ishmael gets run off, with his mother, as Sarah couldn't stomach having them around. There was tension. But God promises to look after and bless Ishmael for Abraham's sake. Nevertheless, Ishmael is sent away. Now this is what got me when I read it afresh this week. When Abraham dies, Isaac and Ishmael bury their father. Genesis chapter 25 says this, "And Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe, old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave ...and there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife" (vv. 8-11). The two brothers, half-brothers if you will, together, bury their father. Ishmael gets to come back for this. Isaac and Ishmael do this thing together. When it comes to family, and when it comes to burying the dead, blood will tell out. Family matters. And it matters to God. He keeps track of everyone's genealogy. But I love that. And today, I got to speak on the phone with one of my two brothers, and I miss him. I miss them both. When I think of my brothers, my heart wells up. They are mine, and I belong to them in a blood way that nothing can change. We have history together. We are family. God understands that. We are His family. And look what He did to get us back again! He, God the Son, Jesus, came down to earth as a human, as a baby, to live and die here, to rise again after 3 days, defeating death and sin, so that we could be forgiven of our sins and restored to family status with God the Father. How amazing is that? It is the one thing that really matters.
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Franci Ballwatching and working for the kingdom of God in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham - UK Archives
January 2019
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