“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar.”       Genesis 16:1 NIV

In that society, it was considered a disgrace for a couple to be childless. In our day, many couples choose that lifestyle for themselves and that is okay. Others have that choice forced on them by physical reasons. In Abram’s day, regardless of the reasons behind it, if a couple had no children, they were mocked, looked down on and largely were not accepted in society. This was a society that also thought nothing of multiple marriages. If a man like Abram were to take Hagar as a concubine, or secondary wife, no one around them would think a thing of it. If that concubine were to bear a child, it would be considered to be the child of the first, or primary wife. In this way, Sarai could get the child she desired and be accepted in the community. As followers of Jesus, we are often guilty of lowering our standards to those of the community around us in order to fit in better. It is better to please our Lord and be rejected by others than it is to please others and be rejected by our Lord! There MUST be a clear line of demarcation between the people of the Lord and the world around them. Let us be reminded of Paul’s words as he addressed the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate’, says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’” Seeking to be accepted can lead to our downfall!

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, we repent of seeking to be accepted by others instead of You.

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, we confess that we have so easily desired to be accepted by the world instead of being accepted by You, and that has led to our downfall. AMEN

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 17:1-13

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