Many done. by father Abraham
Father Abraham had many sons.
He did; literally, he had eight sons. Most people remember Ishmael and Isaac (the forefathers of the Arabs and Jews, respectively, separated by thirteen years), Abraham's children by his first wife Sarah.
Several years after Sarah died, though, he married Keturah and had six sons by her: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Thankfully, THEIR names will likely not be part of a category on Jeopardy! any time soon, so I won't quiz you.
Many sons had father Abraham.
Why, why, WHY did I not get my hands on Charles R. Swindoll's Abraham: One Nomad's Amazing Journey of Faith (ISBN 9781414380836) some months earlier? Oh, I finished it in a few days, this blow by blow account of the Old Testament patriarch's life who was first called by the LORD when he was seventy-five ("I will make of thee a great nation,") and right away screwed up the way we all too often do -- we hear God but don't follow him to the letter!
I am one of them ... and so are you.
Abraham was told to go himself, not bring his extended family with him ... twice to foreign kings he had Sarah claim to be his sister and not his wife ... when the requirement of a child to continue the family line was not exactly forthcoming he let his wife talk him into sleeping with her servant and claim him as heir (we still see the fallout of that) ... anyway, for a biography -- as much as you can write one of anybody in Scripture -- gelling Genesis 12 through 25 with the past teaches us a lot.
So let's just praise the Lord.
Over one hundred years (Abraham died at 175, per Genesis 25:7) he had quite a full, adventurous, and faithful life. So will you and I, I suspect, parts of which we don't even realize yet! And I expect God doesn't want to spoil it for you or me; I expect it's more in a way -- a great many ways, since interplanetary travel is unlikely for me -- that getting the girl, killing the bad guys, and saving the entire planet! Eh, but that's now. In an hour I could have total recall.
Right arm [swing right arm, then return to sing top line in italics and go down]
Cary Schmidt's a minister at Lancaster Baptist Church in California, and his book Done (stylized done. ISBN 9781598940060) is subtitled "what most religions don't tell you about the Bible". And the approach he uses in the book I found interesting and readable, whether you're a newcomer to God or not. And in many ways we're all newcomers ... essentially, most if not all religions emphasize what you have to DO to be worthy of fellowship with God, whereas Biblical Christianity is based on
Left arm [swing right arm, then left arm, then return to sing top line in italics going down]
what God has already DONE -- in this case, sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sin, the action that separates us from a full relationship with God Himself. We can't earn it. We can't get kicked out on a technicality (with me this has been a BIG issue) after accepting the Lord as our God. He doesn't move. While you and I are moving on Earth, we're the ones who can seek God's will and do it. We're not asked to be perfect, we're asked to seek forgiveness when we sin
Right leg [swing right arm, then left arm, then right leg, then return ... you get the idea]
and start again. Heaven's going to be full of the forgiven, not the righteous. It's only by being forgiven that you and I can be made, can be in the process of becoming, righteous. The gold standard, so to speak, for all forgiveness (the one that will make the eternal difference to you and I) is the forgiveness God wants us to have from Him through Jesus Who died and rose again. Who has risen and will come again.
Left leg [swing right arm, then left arm, and so on; lather, rinse, repeat]
Today's the first of two days of a state teacher's convention, so after my wife Martha left for work this morning Sarah and Jeffrey actually did not come downstairs for a few minutes! We really want them to catch up on their sleep ... anyway, as I write this they and their aunt Mary and their cousin Josceline are at their grandma and grandpa's house. AND we're taking this extended weekend to catch up on a few things Scouting with Jeffrey and reading with both of 'em. I'll see them tonight
And sit down,
David
He did; literally, he had eight sons. Most people remember Ishmael and Isaac (the forefathers of the Arabs and Jews, respectively, separated by thirteen years), Abraham's children by his first wife Sarah.
Several years after Sarah died, though, he married Keturah and had six sons by her: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Thankfully, THEIR names will likely not be part of a category on Jeopardy! any time soon, so I won't quiz you.
Many sons had father Abraham.
Why, why, WHY did I not get my hands on Charles R. Swindoll's Abraham: One Nomad's Amazing Journey of Faith (ISBN 9781414380836) some months earlier? Oh, I finished it in a few days, this blow by blow account of the Old Testament patriarch's life who was first called by the LORD when he was seventy-five ("I will make of thee a great nation,") and right away screwed up the way we all too often do -- we hear God but don't follow him to the letter!
I am one of them ... and so are you.
Abraham was told to go himself, not bring his extended family with him ... twice to foreign kings he had Sarah claim to be his sister and not his wife ... when the requirement of a child to continue the family line was not exactly forthcoming he let his wife talk him into sleeping with her servant and claim him as heir (we still see the fallout of that) ... anyway, for a biography -- as much as you can write one of anybody in Scripture -- gelling Genesis 12 through 25 with the past teaches us a lot.
So let's just praise the Lord.
Over one hundred years (Abraham died at 175, per Genesis 25:7) he had quite a full, adventurous, and faithful life. So will you and I, I suspect, parts of which we don't even realize yet! And I expect God doesn't want to spoil it for you or me; I expect it's more in a way -- a great many ways, since interplanetary travel is unlikely for me -- that getting the girl, killing the bad guys, and saving the entire planet! Eh, but that's now. In an hour I could have total recall.
Right arm [swing right arm, then return to sing top line in italics and go down]
Cary Schmidt's a minister at Lancaster Baptist Church in California, and his book Done (stylized done. ISBN 9781598940060) is subtitled "what most religions don't tell you about the Bible". And the approach he uses in the book I found interesting and readable, whether you're a newcomer to God or not. And in many ways we're all newcomers ... essentially, most if not all religions emphasize what you have to DO to be worthy of fellowship with God, whereas Biblical Christianity is based on
Left arm [swing right arm, then left arm, then return to sing top line in italics going down]
what God has already DONE -- in this case, sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty for the sin, the action that separates us from a full relationship with God Himself. We can't earn it. We can't get kicked out on a technicality (with me this has been a BIG issue) after accepting the Lord as our God. He doesn't move. While you and I are moving on Earth, we're the ones who can seek God's will and do it. We're not asked to be perfect, we're asked to seek forgiveness when we sin
Right leg [swing right arm, then left arm, then right leg, then return ... you get the idea]
and start again. Heaven's going to be full of the forgiven, not the righteous. It's only by being forgiven that you and I can be made, can be in the process of becoming, righteous. The gold standard, so to speak, for all forgiveness (the one that will make the eternal difference to you and I) is the forgiveness God wants us to have from Him through Jesus Who died and rose again. Who has risen and will come again.
Left leg [swing right arm, then left arm, and so on; lather, rinse, repeat]
Today's the first of two days of a state teacher's convention, so after my wife Martha left for work this morning Sarah and Jeffrey actually did not come downstairs for a few minutes! We really want them to catch up on their sleep ... anyway, as I write this they and their aunt Mary and their cousin Josceline are at their grandma and grandpa's house. AND we're taking this extended weekend to catch up on a few things Scouting with Jeffrey and reading with both of 'em. I'll see them tonight
And sit down,
David
Comments
Post a Comment