Genesis 18:19, ‘For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”’
The Lord appeared to Abraham, by the oaks of Mamre, when he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.
V2, ‘When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth,
When he saw the three men, he ran to meet them and bowed himself to the earth! We see the way he welcomed them.
3 and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. 4 Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree;
Abraham was able to do service to the three men. He brought some water and bread to get refreshed.
5 and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.”
9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”
We see that the three men have come, for a purpose. They have met Abraham and made a promise of Issacs’s birth.
V10, ‘He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him’.
V12, ‘Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ 14 Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”’
It was natural for Sarah to think that she cannot bear at her old age, she doubted what the three men said, she couldn’t believe that she can bear a son.
V16 Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off.V17, ‘The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, V18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?’
God chose Abraham, so that he may command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the LORD, by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him. In the natural conversation between Abraham and the three men, the message was conveyed that God chose Abraham. Each one of us are chosen by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we need to keep ourselves pure and carry out our primary responsibility towards our family, doing what is just and right. Abraham believed God. God promised him a child at the old age.
We see that God wants the new covenant family to be responsible in bringing their children and his household, by keeping the way of the Lord.
God gave us eternal life through Jesus. Bible says that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life. This is the promise from our God. The foundation of our Christian life is to rest upon His perfect and unconditional love. We need to understand the depths of God’s love, through Jesus Christ; our Lord through whom, we have forgiveness of sins and salvation. Bible clearly tells us how to raise our family and what needs to be done in our family, but the important thing, is to understand the depth of His perfect and unconditional love for us.
1 John 3:1, ‘See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.’
Realize the privilege of being called the children of God. God the father loved us through our Lord Jesus Christ. This perfect love should be the foundation of our faith. This leads us to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Then we will be able to love everyone.
Romans 5:5, ‘and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.’
God gave us salvation and also the gift of the Holy Spirit, to guide us and counsel us.
V8, ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’.
Make it personal, that Christ died for me and showed His love for me by dying for me, while I was still a sinner. If we understand this, we will love Him more.
We must be good examples to our children. Our deeds should be right in the sight of God. In this way we will shed some light to our children to follow us in following our Lord. Let us not forget God’s love for us, His perfect, unconditional love towards us, when dealing with our children. God’s love is referred to mothers’ love, as being the pure and unconditional love. The newborn baby is loved and cared by the mother, without any expectations; this same love and even more love, is showed by our God.
Mark 12:28, ‘One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”’
We can love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; by only understanding the depth of His love, the love that was shown on the cross of calvary. When we have His love, God will direct us to do His will in our family, God can take complete control of our lives; we can control ourselves, we will make ourselves pure and ready and God can do His work in our lives. God wants to build us, in His perfect plan for us, so that we can love God with all our hearts and one another too.
Exodus 25:8, ‘Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.’
We need to build a sanctuary for our God, so He can dwell among us, in our home. We need to fully understand His love, so as to build the sanctuary for God to dwell in our homes. Everything else will follow. We have our book of instructions, our manual in God’s Word, which tells us, how to deal with any situation in our lives. We need to cling to the Word and build the sanctuary, so God can dwell among us. We need to build our homes, where we have peace.
Jesus sent His disciples to every city and place where He Himself was going to come; He was giving the instructions about the house, where they should stay and what to say.
Luke 10:5, ‘Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you’.
Jesus says, ‘If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him’; God has foreseen few families who have peace. We need to bring this peace and joy in our homes, through Christ.
V7, ‘Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.’
We need to have a broken heart in order to forgive each other in our families and build each other. We must have peace, the only thing serious is sin. Always have a broken and humble heart.
Isaiah 57:15, ‘For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.’
God dwells with those whose spirit is lowly and contrite. He revives the heart of the contrite.
He waits for us, to be lowly of spirit, so that He can do His work in us. Until then He is waiting. Our high thoughts and lofty thoughts of self are a hindrance, for Him to work in us. We need to be careful in keeping our hearts humble, both in our personal and our family lives. God created man in His image. He wants us to be His reflection, having victory over sin. He wants to present every man perfect in Christ, bringing forth our families in Christ. Obey God.
Ephesians 5:1, ‘Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma’.
V15, ‘Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.’
We can see all our responsibilities towards our partners, children, Fathers, slaves, masters; so that we will be strong warriors for our God.
Ephesians 6:10, ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might’
Abraham is called the Father of faith. He was chosen that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him. It is important that we claim the power of the Holy Spirit by understanding the depths of His love, to have this peaceful and broken spirit; so as to have a heavenly home, as God has promised, He will present us all, perfect in Christ.
Jude 1:20, ‘But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.’
We should pray in the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves in the love of God. As we build our sanctuary for God, He will dwell within us, through the Holy Spirit, He will counsel us, in everything. Our foundation and love should be consistent, to be able to understand His love, and we need to pray in the Holy Spirit, so that we may withstand our most difficult situations and still be standing strong in Him. This will lead us to eternal life. May we be found faithful in the sight of God.
May God bless us.
