Saturday 17 Mar 2012

Saturday Reading: Genesis 12:10-20

Key Verse: Genesis 12:13
13  Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

Devotion:
I don’t know about you, but having hindsight always makes me think “why couldn’t they see it!” But that is one of the reasons why God has given us His Word with so many examples of how to do things and how not to – so that we can learn and not have to go there ourselves. But just as Adam and Eve were first tempted by the serpent, we too will continue blindly down certain alleys in our lives without thinking of where we are going or the consequences of going there!

To me, this passage shows me how men think – it may not be clear to you ladies just how Abraham was justifying this in his own mind, but he had clearly thought it through. It was not the right thing to do because we can see that it nearly ended the wrong way, but Abraham had convinced himself that it was right. That is one of our downfalls, and not just men because ladies go there too – convincing ourselves that something is right just because we cannot see a way round the problem. I know men are more prone to do this openly, especially when trying to fix something or to navigate somewhere – we say we know it all until we fall flat on our faces!

Being able to have someone close to talk to has tremendous advantages and is something that we should all strive to do more often. Being able to sit down and just talk things through with someone else of the opposite sex will help us to know how we think and help us to live a better life with others. God did not create us to stand at opposite ends of the room and just look at each other – though that is what many of us probably did the first dance or disco we went to. God has made us to be different so that we can live with each other and love each other and that should be our aim.

When Christ reminded us that love is at the centre of our lives with God He did not just say that for us to love God but to learn to love each other with a love that goes beyond looking at someone the opposite side of the room. We can see, in Abrahams strange way, that Abraham loved Sarah and wanted both of them to be safe so that they could continue to live together… even if that meant living apart a bit… Yes, a strange way of looking at it, but one that Abraham had apparently thought out. We need to go beyond our own shortcomings and look to God for guidance and for strength. He can give us the love we need to succeed in our relationship with the people that we love; so long as we keep Him in the centre and focus on His will and not dilute it for our convenience.

Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle with your lot?

Are you embracing God’s ways?