Today’s Bible Reading: Genesis 25:1-26:35
by Bill Hood | January 9, 2010 | In Daily Reading, Family | Comments Off
Well guys, I have to say; this commenting on the daily reading has caused me to pay closer attention to my Bible reading. I don’t just mean that I’m staying up with it but that I’m noticing things that I have missed before when reading the Bible through.
I think in my previous attempts to read the Bible from cover to cover I was focused on achieving the goal of “getting through it”. I can be very goal oriented. The problem was that I would find myself breezing through the scripture so I could get on to all the other things I had to do.
Knowing that I must comment on what I have read, and that my brothers in Christ will be reading it, has given my reading new focus. Now I’m looking for deeper meaning; not just trying to get through it. In writing today’s comment I pulled out my Bible encyclopedia, topical Bible, Bible handbook and concordance. I have to admit that being surround by all of these thick open books made me feel smart even if the reality is a little different. The point is, so far, this blog has done exactly what I hoped it would do; at least for myself. That is, motivating me to be in the Word every day and growing in my knowledge and understand of God.
I say all of this because I’d like to encourage you to do the same. Read as often as you can and do so saying to yourself that you are going to write a comment on this blog about what God has revealed to you in that reading. I believe that if you do so you will gain more from your reading and help your fellow brothers grow at the same time.
Isn't nice when brothers get along?
Anyway, today’s reading is Genesis 25-26 and what stuck out to me is how much family means to God. Yesterday Sarah died and was buried. Today we find that Abraham took another wife named Keturah. What is interesting here is that in Verse 1 Keturah is described as wife where as in verse 6 her children are described as children of a concubine. In 1 Chronicles 1:32 she is referred to as a concubine as well.
Regardless of her official standing in relationship to Abraham, God is making sure we are aware of her and her children’s existence and is naming names. In fact, Keturah’s six sons become the fathers of a number of North Arabian tribes that rejoin the biblical narrative latter on and some of which are still extant in the world today. Of course Abraham sent all of them away so as to keep peace in the family so to speak. God had promised the blessing through Isaac, and Abraham wanted no trouble once he was gone.
Later on we hear about Isaac praying for his wife so that she might have children. A great example for all us guys today; how often do you pray for your wife? We hear about the sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau that began in the womb. We also learn that God is concerned about where Isaac will live and that Isaac repeats the same sin his father did of lying about his wife; telling others she was his sister. I’m not sure if this is the same Abimelech as the one Abraham lied to but, boy, this seems to be a habit with the family.
Going on we hear about God repeating his promise to Abraham to Isaac, and finally that Esau married a Hittite woman. I feel like I’m watching the biblical version of the soap opera “The Days of Our Lives”! All kidding aside, what I’m getting from all of this is that God cares about families. He cares about where you live, how you interact with others, how you get along with each other, how you deal with non-family members, and who you marry.
God cares about your family. He shows us this by giving us the detail of this dysfunctional family. Do you have squabbles with your wife, challenges with your children, disagreements with your neighbors? Nothing new. What I see here is just another image of the Good News. The blessings God promised to Abraham and his descendants did not depend on their “perfect” behavior. Boy, were these folks human! I see so many of the stumbles my family has in Abraham’s family. No, I do not have a concubine. I’m speaking figuratively you numskull!
I was watching the movie “Luther” last night and I saw the pain that so many ill informed Christians experience. At the beginning of the movie, Luther fears for his salvation because he can not measure up to God’s standard. Wow, how off base can you get? If you could be good enough to be saved on your own, the brutal torture and murder of God’s only son would not have been necessary. In fact, if you could behave your way into heaven then God would have been exceedingly cruel to put His Son through all of that. I hate to burst your self-importance bubble but God has a plan that just doesn’t depend on you. Your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid Rock you stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
So, the moral of the story? If God cares about your family, and I assure you He does, don’t you think you should make sure you are taking care of them the way God intended; in a passionate, self-sacrificing way? By the same token, when you stumble, and you will, thank God that your blessings and salvation are not dependent on your good behavior, get up, dust yourself off, and get back to being the man God created you to be!
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
