Word of Encouragement (03/02/2022)

We are reflecting on Eliezer’s prayer of thanksgiving, particularly the reason for his deep gratitude. As we saw yesterday, one was the immediacy of God’s answer. Another was his deep sense of responsibility, which came from his understanding of his master’s heart. You know how it is—the heavier the burden, the greater the joy of relief.

Eliezer understood how important this mission was to Abraham because, when he was sent for this mission, Abraham made him swear an oath by “the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth” (Gen. 24:3). The seriousness of this charge was not lost on Eliezer. It is easy to downgrade the importance of someone’s request when it doesn’t seem important to us. I’m sure we all have had this happen to us. We ask someone to do something important for us and he promises to do it. We check back with him later and he talks as if it were news to him. How disappointing and infuriating that is! But we must admit that we have done the same to others as well. When we don’t listen carefully and intentionally make a mental note, we easily forget what we were asked to do, at least some details of it. Then, we realize how important it was to the other person and we feel so bad. But it is too late!

How wonderful it is to have a faithful friend, who treats our concern as his own! Eliezer was that kind of servant to Abraham. No wonder Abraham thought of making him his heir when he had no children! We don’t know whether he knew of Abraham’s intention. But his loyalty to Abraham remained the same whether his master had children or not. Because he was so loyal to his master, it is quite likely that he came to love his younger master as his own son: he made his master’s business his own, including loving and caring for his master’s beloved son. So, he did not treat this errand merely as a chore. He sincerely desired to have the best bride possible for his younger master. That is why he prayed that the LORD would make His choice known to him.

And when the LORD made it known to him, Eliezer would not let anything delay him from completing his mission by bringing the bride to Isaac. So, when Laban asked for two more weeks before Rebekah left with him (during which Eliezer could take a nice break, by the way), he humbly but firmly refused. Wouldn’t we all love to have people as dependable as Eliezer in our lives? And is there anybody, who needs us to be an Eliezer to him?

But even Eliezer was only a faint reflection of Jesus Christ, the faithful Son of God, who volunteered to come as the Servant of all so that He might save all of God’s people. How amazing it is that the Son of God should come as the Servant of all serve us! He understood His Father’s heart for the lost and willingly entered a covenant with the Father (“the covenant of redemption”) to lay down His life for the salvation of God’s people. He saw the cross through the first of His tears (“Love Crucified Arose”) and never veered from it to the left or the right. He did not rest until He accomplished our salvation on the cross and declared, “It is finished!”

How blessed we are that we should have such a faithful Savior! Should we not follow Him to our God and our heavenly Father? And should we not strive to be faithful to Him as He is to us? And should we not be willing to serve one another in faithfulness in His likeness?

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