There are few opening verses in a chapter of the Bible more warming than the first verse of Chapter 24 of Genesis. It was the end of Abraham’s life and God had blessed him in every way. Make no mistake, it was not easy, he left his people he lived a nomadic life. and he lived for a quarter century without an heir. Then the world changed, Abraham had Isaac, he raised Isaac and even trusted Isaac’s life to God. Now, as an old man, it was time to pass his fortune, his faith, and his covenant to his son.
As any father, Abraham wanted Isaac to be holy, separate. He knew that intermingling with the locals would destroy the faith and the legacy of the covenant between God and Abraham. Abraham’s request to his servant was simple; find a wife for his son that would preserve the lineage, the faith, and the love for God that carried Abraham. Abraham wanted to give Isaac every chance to build a people that would become a kingdom of priests.
It is still important to remember from where we have come. We are God’s chosen people. Paul reminds us in II Corinthians 5:17, that if anyone is in Christ, he/she is a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come. We become one with God. As such, we live in a way that is holy and separate. We live in the world, but do not become like it. Like Abraham knew with his son, we must preserve our relationship with God and live a covenant life. We can’t live like the world sometimes and like Christ at other times. Like Joshua, God calls us to choose whom we will serve–as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
God Bless You
Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring[a] I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
Walking With God 