Look Ahead! 86 [Gen 23:1-20] / Abraham Set A Good Example of Faith / Anne's Faith Column

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Look Ahead! 

Abraham Set A Good

Example of Faith 86

[Gen 23:1-20]

 / Anne's Faith Column 

 

/ By Priscilla 

 

Notice Abraham, who obtained

the cave of Machpelah after making

a covenant with the Hittites,

 

 

hoping to pay a fair price for

Sarah's burial place!

 

 

Life comes from dust

and returns to dust.

 

 

Sarah was brought to God's

embrace before Abraham.

 

 

The heart of love can be read

 from Abraham mourning 

for the loss of his wife.

 

 

At that time, it was difficult

for an alien to stay in a foreign land

but we can feel that Abraham's

abundance was due to

God's blessing

 

 

and that other tribes wanted

to do him good through his faith.

 

 

This is because their friendly

attitude toward Abraham

can be seen from them.

 

 

There are times when we are

left hesitated by the choice 

of whether to accept a favor 

that unbelievers offer us

 without any conditions.

 

 

However, even under

such circumstances,

 

 

Abraham was not shaken

at all and did not repeat

his human errors of the past,

 

 

and he told them that

he would pay a full price

for the burial site.

 

 

"Sir, listen to us.

You are a mighty prince

among us.

 

 

Bury your dead

in the choicest of our tombs.

 

 

None of us will refuse you

his tomb for burying your dead."

(Gen 23:6)

 

 

As can be seen from

the above scripture,

 

 

the unbelievers already

knew that Abraham was a

 mighty prince and offered

him a favor.

 

 

However, Abraham's religious

maturity is shown in his actions

when he refused their favor

and chose to pay the full price.

 

 

What is surprising is that

through his trials and

tribulations of the past,

 

 

he had become a person

who could discern everything

and look ahead.

 

 

He was a God-centered

person who tried to completely

root out the source of help

by human bonds between

believers and non-believers,

 

 

which could later become

entangled with each other and 

cause bilateral difficult problems. 

 

 

It is clear that setting a good

example without personal greed

as a believer in God is an attitude

that we must keep and maintain

as Christians today.

 

 

We must discern the attitudes

of believers and unbelievers

who want to show affection

around us,

 

 

and we must wisely clarify

that we either accept or reject it.

 

 

Thus, in advance, we must

completely eliminate any

elements that are intertwined

with each other or may be

tempting to us.

 

 

This is because if we take a

mutually ambiguous attitude,

we can easily be put to the

temptation in trivial things.

 

 

In Christ, we should keep

Christian norms, laws, and morals,

 

 

and we should never do harm to

others while trying to seek profit

without being blinded by greed.

 

 

Also, when doing good,

you should give with joy

and should not enter into

resentment or temptation,

 

 

and the person receiving help

should not go beyond the limit

and take advantage of others

or be excessively greedy.

 

 

We can both live a life of faith 

without regret and build up 

virtue only when we treat 

each other with love just

as we serve Jesus.

 

 

How should we behave, then?

 

 

1) In the community of faith,

there are times when we force

or impose excessive burdens

on others. 

 

 

On the other hand,

there are times when we expec

t too much of things that will be

a burden to the other person.

 

 

We must completely

eradicate such practices.

 

 

2) We need to carefully classify

and accept the debt of love that

the other person wants to give us.

 

 

3) We must become believers

who act while looking far ahead

with the eyes of faith.

 

 

Prayer

 

Lord!

 

 

Help me to live a life of faith

that I am not ashamed of in

front of people all the time. 

 

 

And help me to become

an exemplary disciple of 

Christ who builds up virtue.

 

 

Make sure that I should not

make people around me difficult

and cause resentment.

 

 

Lead me not to dishonor

Jesus for my actions!

 

 

May the Holy Spirit always 

remind me to take responsibility

for my actions.  

 

 

Amen

 

- To Be Continue - 

 

 

 

2010/07/19

 

 

/ By Priscilla