Verse
of the day: Genesis 20:7 “Now
therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live.
But if you do not restore her, know that you
shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
Once again
we see Abraham in the midst of a situation he has created for himself for
having a momentary lack of faith in trusting God to keep him and Sarah safe.
However, here we see how God responds to it and how he deals with both Abraham
and Abimelech in resolving this issue in a way that is just, before Him. We see
God’s grace in both their lives, but we also see that God calls each one to
respond in a way that we, as born again believers, are called to respond to
each other, and others, in trying to resolve difficult situations, regardless
of whether we cause the injury or are on the receiving end. Often what hinders
a proper Christian response, from us, in dealing with difficult situations, and
conflicts that we encounter, is that we gauge our response based on what we
deem to be fair or unfair; too often with no biblical basis, or ignoring the
biblical response we know we should give, because it does not line up with what
our flesh is telling us the other person deserves. We often forget that God
deals with us, over and over again, with mercy and grace, and is better to us
than we deserve in His response to our sinful ways; the greatest demonstration
of that grace being that Christ gave His life to bring us eternal life. We see
that God, in dealing with Abimelech who has unknowingly sinned against Him, has
shown Him much grace, but still holds him accountable for his actions. Our sins,
whether intentional or not, are still sins against God; and it is for this
reason that we need a Savior. Regardless of who we are, we sin against God,
even unknowingly, making us guilty before God; proving what the Bible tells us
in Romans 3:10 that there is none righteous, no not one, and Romans 3:23 where
it tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. As far as
how Abimelech is to deal with Abraham, God’s prophet, who has sinned against
both Abimelech, and God, the Lord tells him to treat him kindly, and restore Sarah.
Not only did Abimelech restore Sarah, but he increased Abraham’s wealth, and
gave him permission to dwell anywhere in the land he chose (v. 14-15). Even in
rebuking Abraham, and Sarah, which they both deserved, Abimelech chose his
words carefully, as to not cause further injury to the situation (v. 9-16).
This is not typically how we want to respond to those who injure us in any way.
Our typical response is usually to “give the other person what they deserve or
give them a piece of our mind” (in a not so kind manner), and we measure it by
the severity of the offense committed against us; again, forgetting that God
does not give us what we deserve for greatly sinning against Him (eternal
condemnation). We see this principle repeated for us in God’s command found in
Romans 12:17-21, where the Apostle Paul wrote that we are not to return evil for
evil, but instead live peaceably with all men, not seeking vengeance, but
leaving it to God; and if need be feeding, and giving our enemy to drink,
overcoming evil with good. What an example we would set for the world if we, as
born again believers, would truly learn to live at peace with one another.
Next, we see that in return, God holds Abraham responsible for making things
right with Abimelech by praying for the healing of his house. God could have
chosen to restore Abimelech’s house without using Abraham, for it was God from
whom healing would come from. Instead, God chose to do that which Jesus told us
we are responsible to do when we know that others have something against us.
Matthew 5:23-24 tells us that if we bring our gift to the altar and remember
that our brother/sister has something against us, we are to leave our gift at
the altar and go get things right with him/her, then come back and offer our
gift. How often do we lift up our gift of worship, in the form of praise and
thanksgiving to God; yet we harbor ill-feelings toward someone, or have
offended others who are harboring ill-feelings toward us. This is not right.
Our responsibility, as children of God, is to show the same grace and mercy
towards others, that God has shown toward us. Let us strive today to show the
world that we do not respond to life and its challenges the way it tells us we
should. Instead, let us show them the love of God and how it has changed our attitude
toward one another, and those that offend us; that God would be lifted up and
glorified by our action, attitudes, and deeds towards others, and one another
who have been adopted into the family of God in Christ Jesus.
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