SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10-27-2006
My Worship Time Focus: Abraham’s Land
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Genesis 23:7-16
Message of the verse: “7 So Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he spoke with them, saying, ‘If it is your wish for me to bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and approach Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in your presence for a burial site.’ 10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth; even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11 ‘No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.’ 12 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, ‘If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.’ 14 Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 ‘My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.’ 16 Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.”
God had promised all of the land in this region to Abraham yet he had to buy a place to bury his wife in. Well that promise is still yet unfulfilled, but it can be assured that one day it will be fulfilled and the nation of Israel will own all of the land that God told Abraham about, for I believe that this will happen when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to set up His 1000 year reign on planet earth.
There are a few things that are worth being noted in this transaction between Abraham and Ephron. First Abraham did not want to buy the field along with the cave. Second Ephron did not want to give the land and the cave to Abraham, but this is just a Middle Eastern way of doing business. Third Abraham paid too much for the cave and the field, but it seems that he did so because he did not want to barter with Ephron, he had enough money to pay his price, and most of all there are times in a believer’s life when the price is not as important as the wittiness you are presenting. God told Jeremiah to buy a portion of land when he knew that soon the whole land would be destroyed, yet Jeremiah obeyed and bought the land.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Because of the storm, or trial with our investments that we are going through, I have come to think about money in a different way, that is I trust the Lord who has given me everything that I have more than the things that He has given to me, and so I do not have to get the very best deal on something if it means that that kind of thinking will be bothersome to me, for my trust is in the Lord. This does not mean that I want to through money away, for I am accountable to all that the Lord has given to me, but there truly has to be a balance here, and trust in the Lord will allow me to be in the balance He wants me to be in.
The Word of God has been convicting, challenging and refreshing to me as I read and studied it this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today: To continue to learn contentment, and to pray that the Lord will direct my path in all that I do. To remember that it was the Lord who called me to be His own, and because of that fact I belong to Him and want to do every thing to please Him.
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