November 1, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.” (Genesis 25.9-10)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

To be forever with the love of his heart, Sarah, because he would dwell forever with the love of his soul, God. Abraham had made arrangements to care for those whom he loved beyond measure. Though he stumbled and fell on many occasions loving self more than others, he was a man of the world as such things do happen, his true self was ultimately revealed in the ones in whom he had faith. The scene is completing. Both his sons, Ishmael and Isaac, came together to honor their father. In doing so, they also honored their mother, Sarah. Yes, we know full well that Isaac was born of Sarah and so she was his mother by the grace of God. Still, by the law of the land in which they lived, Ishmael was a son of Sarah, too. He had “legally” passed through her thighs and into the world. She was bound, though it would be a struggle at which she would fail tragically, to be Ishmael’s mother. In her desire to honor God and Abraham, she made decisions to be obedient to “the law,” or her understanding of it as was her duty to do so. Ishmael represented the conflict she had in her life of herself. We all have someone in our lives just like that in whom we see ourselves more than we might care to. We may mistreat them in some way, as we do not honor and care for ourselves as we ought. Yet, their presence in our lives and ours in their makes the truth undeniable. We all have a conflict that we ourselves cannot resolve. Only by the grace of God can that be done. Will we find ourselves obedient to that grace of God? Isaac represented that grace which the law could not command except the law of love for which God is the author. He writes it upon our hearts and in our minds, it is etched in our souls. We can choose to live as if to deny it. In the end, however, love never fails. Even a harsh judgment which we might bring upon ourselves is the very presence of the fullness of love. True love is not an allowance of “everything is good” because not everything is. Love is good and true and righteous, thus just. Discipline is as much as part of love as love is a part of setting others, including ourselves on the right path which best serves the fullness of our lives. And when we fall short, confessing our lack of either good judgment or obedience to the truth, it is by grace alone that we are able to move forward when we otherwise could not do it. Isaac was that gift from the grace of God to do what neither Abraham nor Sarah could do. God provided, Jehovah Jireh.

Thus, both sons came together to honor the dead among the living. Their lives forever touched and shaped by the love between a father and their mother. They returned their father to where their lives began. It was the first piece of ground in the promised land that Abraham and Sarah had set foot and called “their own.” Their lives had come full circle and were now complete. Their next generation bore witness to it and honored it with their lives. It should be the hope of every parent to be honored in such a way. Sadly, in this world that is not always possible nor desired. Why? Because the parents failed to act in honor of the One who made their lives possible. They accepted their charge to exist as one deemed by themselves and nothing further could be from the truth. This is why, mighty ones of God, that Jesus declared His ministry was that of reconciliation. Such ministry is bringing “two together to be as one.” It was Jesus greatest purpose to bring the children of God back to the Father not to bury Him, of course, but to recognize that save for the grace of God we would be nothing more than dust and fading memory. Nothing could be further from the truth for we are life and spirit in whom the truth of God has been planted. What is that truth? It is nothing more and less than love. So, in reconciliation, as Ishmael and Isaac at Mamre, love was their aim to bring “two together” to be as one. Is this not why we continue to see the cross and the tomb? They are the evidences of God’s love and grace which reconcile us back to God so that love will have its way. And its way is undeniable regardless of what we say. Let us choose the way of love that leads to life beyond the grave that points us to heaven and pray for those who choose the different side of love that is bound to law and judgment and eternal death.

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.