October 21, 2026
GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:
“Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. He said to them, ‘If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.’” (Genesis 23.7-9)
REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:
Why was Machpelah important to Abraham so much that he bargained with the Hittites and Ephron to purchase it as the burial place for Sarah? Machpelah near Mamre, was the first piece of land which Abraham owned when he came into Canaan. In the interceding years which we have travelled together with him, the land became the possession of others. It came to rest in the land controlled by the Hittites and in particular Ephron, the son of Zohar. Abraham’s absence had seen the release of the ownership of the land. There was no deed when Abraham first entered into that land which God had promised him. It was ceded to him upon his act of faith. He would not own it as property but receive it as his responsibility to cherish and honor the gift. Times changed. Now Abraham has come full circle back to the beginning point. This land was sacred to him and to his family.
Mighty ones of God, where is our full circle point? To where do we return as those blessed with a land of promise? No, I am not speaking of a homeplace as some of us might still find or at least remember. Rather, I am speaking of the hallowed ground upon which we stood when we made Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Did we just pass that way and move forward with our lives? Did we see each day, yes, as a blessing to be a blessing? Did we exercise our faith as a part of our routine and make that our religion? Can we hear the call in today’s Word which God cherished and captured in story and then in writing speaking to us? Do we hear the challenge of “ownership”? Yes, we can have faith but does faith have us? Do we truly lay down our lives and die into Christ or do we put Him on like a cloak for the day against all kinds of weather. Ephron sold Abraham the field that had the cave in which Sarah (and eventually others) would be buried. Abraham put ownership to it not just in word and not just in money but in faith, hope and love. Shouldn’t we take such ownership also for life in perpetuity by giving our all to the cross, the grave and the resurrection day?
TODAYS’ PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:
Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness endeavor, but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
