20 April 2010 Devotion for Today "Success" Genesis 24:1-12

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

12:10 PM

^{1 Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac."}

 
 

 5 The servant asked him, "What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?"

 
 

 6 "Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. 7 "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring I will give this land'-he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there." 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

 
 

 10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

 
 

 12 Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a girl, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too'-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master."

 
 

I had a conversation with someone this week who told me that success was overrated. I asked him to clarify what he meant. He said that we equate success as having a good-paying job, owning a nice house, driving a new or luxury vehicle, having an attractive mate with equally beautiful children. He then asked, "Can a person not have any of these things and still be successful?" We discussed the subject for a good while and concluded that there are certain ideas that man has which he defines as successful, but God has His own idea about what He deems as successful.

 
 

The servant of Genesis 24 was such a person. Abraham was successful in the ways of the world, but he was not always successful in the ways of God. However, his servant was a success because he was not only obedient to his master, but also because he was obedient to God and looked to him for guidance in his success. The servant's mission was to find a wife for his master's son, Isaac. He prayed that God would help him develop the criteria for the character Isaac would need for a wife. He prayed not only for superficial beauty, but for a thoughtful and considerate nature in the young lady to be selected. He prayed that the girl would not just do what was asked, but would be willing to do more than what was asked. Such a quality would come in handy when it was time to leave everything and everyone she had ever known to marry a young man she never met before. She would not be spoiled as some girls are, but willing to work and to work hard. Such an attitude would make her husband a success also.

 
 

What we don't consider here also is the character of this servant. He prayed to make his master's household a success. Too often we desire that we be the ones who shine and appear great in the sight of others. But the ones who are truly successful are the ones who help other people succeed, even if they do not get the credit or the recognition for it. It is God who is glorified whenever we do something well. So when we succeed, it is not us, but God who gives us that good fortune. Since we are nothing in and of ourselves without God, wouldn't it make better sense to help others to succeed and be all that God desires them to be? When we do, God will lift us up to the proper place of where we need to be when it is His desire to do it. God only calls us to be faithful and obedient. He is the One who gives success.

 
 

Prayer: O Father I pray today that You will grant me success in the right way, that I may not just think of myself, but to cause others to succeed as it glorifies You. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.