October 30, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.” (Genesis 25.6-7)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

There is a common theme which runs through the entire word of God. That theme is one of “choice.” Having choices is a matter of the nature and character of love. Love cannot be mandated nor coerced. Love is a choice of giving to another a fullness of life as reflected in the very nature and character of God. This is why the Elder John wrote, “God is love and the one who dwells according to love dwells with God and God with that one who has made the choice.” (1 John 4.16) We see the “genesis,” no pun intended, of that understanding in the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2. God reveals His nature and character as creator and sovereign in order to provide an understanding of what love truly is, does and its blessings. God does it right. Whether we like what God does at all times or not does not alter the fact of God’s love towards all of creation, including the people who live on earth, is righteous and just. That too many people want to judge God’s expression of love when it does not agree with their understanding and lifestyle is, of course, their choice. However, their judgments, opinions and choices will not change the fact that throughout the scriptural revelation of who God is is perfect love. God loves with purpose, meaning and intentionality which leads to the best outcome for each and every element of creation. The fact that “we” may want to recreate the rules and expectations is not only a choice but a profaning of the Word of God by deciding who is going to be “god” over us. God will work out His design of love to the fruition of creation in spite of us or with us. That is, most certainly, our choice.

With that being said, I will take this moment to reflect on the closing of Abraham’s story as it transition fully into Isaac’s story. It is undoubtedly a love story which reveals the struggle of Abraham to love and be loved by God and by others. Abraham’s story is the choice of being a man of the world and a man of faith. The story would not exist if God did not see in Abraham the nature and character of love for God when Abraham would allow himself to see and be seen by God. Mighty ones of God, that potential exists in all of us. It exists because we are born out of Spirit and Truth. There are none born who exist without that singularity. Regardless of the circumstances of their birth, when life is conceived there is that spark of life which is of, by the very nature of creation, God. Even the most vile of human beings, and we have witnessed such people throughout history, still have the very element of God’s Spirit in them or they would never have come into being. What matters then is not so much the “creation of humans” but their “recreation.” Is that recreation of God or of man, of the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of man? We see the angst of that struggle in the life of Abraham as it comes to a close. While Abraham loved Sarah who was his wife by the law as God revealed it, Abraham also loved other women as the law of the land allowed. We read at the beginning of chapter 25 that Abraham married again after Sarah died. Scholars believed that the woman named Keterah was, in fact, Hagar who gave birth to Abraham’s “first” son, Ishmael. The name change simply reflected the circumstance of both relationships as “Hagar” was never to be mentioned again. Abraham fathered six sons with Keturah. As with Ishmael, who was considered then a son of a concubine by law, all the sons were given their due at Abraham’s death. What they received is not known. However, we do know that Isaac received the full inheritance as the blessed and promised son of Abraham and Sarah. This leads us back to the reflection on the “choice” given to us as the guarantee of “love.” Abraham returned to his heart’s obligation taking Hagar/Keturah as his wife. He made legitimate their relationship so that she was no longer consider a handmaiden nor a concubine. This showed the depth of his heart and that he never took their relationship of intimacy lightly. He was a man of his word as it was given. The fact that he had concubines other than Hagar shows an accommodation of the culture and climate of the world in which he lived. It is not as God designed nor had planned. That God would not honor the initial promise to Ishmael as the “first born son of Abraham” because he was not born of Sarah, Abraham’s first love, is proof that God’s mind would not be changed simply because man decided to act apart from God’s will. Mighty ones of God, this is the message to us to this day. Just because we can do a thing doesn’t mean we should. Further, to then seek God’s blessing on it would be ludicrous and profane. Yet, we do it thinking we are sovereign over our lives on earth and thus determine our place as acceptable in heaven. It just doesn’t work that way. How we should reassess our decisions and choices to demonstrate God’s pure love is a personal one. God, however, has shown there are consequences for all decisions whether we agree with them or not. We are called to be obedient to God and not the other way around. It doesn’t mean we still cannot do good work and strive to meet the expectations of being children of God; we should. The call to be God’s children is a different thing and that determination is made in our alignment with Jesus as the Christ, our Lord and Savior. It changes everything because “God so loved the world that He gave it/us His only begotten Son so that whosoever would believe in Him shall have everlasting life.” Mighty ones of God, understand how John 3.16 connects directly and unequivocally with John 14.4 “I AM (is) the Way, the Truth and the Life and there is no means of entering into the Father’s eternal presence except through Him.” Ishmael and six other sons of Abraham may certainly exist and in part share a blessing promised by God but only through Isaac is the Son of God revealed and the promise of God be everlasting.

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.