Genesis 24:52-26:16, Matthew 8:18-34, Psalm 10:1-15, Proverbs 3:7-8
A lot happened in today's Genesis reading. Rebekah leaves her family to become Isaac's wife, and one of the great love stories of the Bible begins. As a little girl, I was always drawn to the romance of this story. Rebekah's family pleads with Abraham's servant to allow her to remain with them for a few more days before she must leave to be married. Her home is very far from her future husband's and she knows she will likely never see them again. Abraham's servant protests wanting to leave immediately, but Rebekah's family insists on asking her what she want to do. She simply replies, "I will go" (Genesis 24:58). I am always humbled by Rebekah's obedience to follow this servant to marry a man she has not yet met. Then later as she approaches Isaac's home she sees a man in a field. Immediately, she jumps off her horse and says, "who is this man?". When the servant replies, "it is my master", she veils herself knowing she has just seen her fiancé. (Genesis 24:65). Perhaps it was this image which led me to decide to use a veil myself when I was married ten years ago. Many tried to persuade me not to do this as it is not very common these days as everyone wants to see a blushing bride walking down the aisle, but it was something I always envisioned for myself. This scene with Isaac and Rebekah is almost epic, and I can see it in my mind as I read these passages.
Now that I'm married with children though I was more interested in the blessing that Rebekah's brothers say over her before her departure:
Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands; and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them. Genesis 24:60
Of course, Rebekah's brothers don't literally expect her to have thousands of babies. They are referring to their family lineage. It struck me that back in these days the primary if not sole reason to have children was to preserve the family name and to have a long lineage. In short, the desire to procreate was to approach the infinite-to reach for something greater than oneself, if you will.
What a stark contrast to the reason we have children today! Today, we usually view our children as extensions of ourselves. We primarily have children in order to satisfy our earthly desires to fit in, to nurture something or to satisfy the "maternal clock" we hear so much a out. I'm not saying this is wrong but it does lead us to spend our time raising our children differently than children were raised in the past. You see, in the past children were raised with an eternal goal in mind, and today we raise children with a very finite goal in mind. Write down the goals you have for your child. I guarantee you almost all of them will be things you hope he/she will achieve in this lifetime. I fear that I am starting to sound a bit preachy here, but please know I am speaking more to myself than anyone else. This just started me thinking about the goals I have for my own children. What would happen if I started thinking less about what my child can achieve in this lifetime and more about how my children are an extension of God's eternal family? What if I spent as much time preparing their spirits as I do teaching them proper grammar, manners and other necessary skills for life? I think of how many times a day I answer the same question or patiently correct a verb tense or even dole out a much needed consequence for bad behavior but then find myself at the end of the day with no time or energy to teach my children about God. Just food for thought.
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