Passage Read: Genesis 21-24
Meditation Verses: 24:54-58
Thought
Throughout Abraham's narrative, Abraham's quick obedience is often noted. The Lord comes to him in the evening and the next morning, Abraham carries out the Lord's instruction. There is no real delay, just a night to prepare his heart and plan for the task. And these are not small things he was being asked to do! In one case, sending away his first son; the next, sacrificing his remaining son! Rebecca too showed the same willingness to dramatically change her life in obedience to circumstances apparently orchestrated by the Lord. She was willing to leave her family and everything she knew to become the wife of a man she'd never met! On the word of a servant from relatives she'd never met! Overnight! That's incredible faith. Whatever she knew of God, if anything, it was enough to give up everything familiar and risk her whole life.
Application
The kind of faith and trust that prompts this kind of obedience is what God honors. It is better than all the songs of worship and praise that I can sing. This kind of obedience is what makes those songs of praise meaningful to God, and real from me. I may not get special commands and instructions from the Lord like Abraham, but I can hear of opportunities or receive invitations like Rebecca and accept them. If there's an opportunity to serve the Lord, if there's an instruction that comes up in Scripture, I need to respond like Abraham and Rebecca, right away.