Live All the Days of Your Life

Genesis 25:1-11, 21-25

A young woman invited a non-Christian to attend church with her. She was disappointed when the minister began to read the entire 5th chapter of the book of Genesis preparing to deliver a message on Enoch. As the minister read on and on, the genealogical statistics became boring for her. She thought that her friend would never feel his need for a Savior after this boring repletion. What she did not realize though, was that the end of every paragraph was having an impact on her friend, when the each said, “and he died.” The young man did not pay attention to the amount of time each person lived, but that they each died. That disturbed him and got him to thinking. The man was later saved, having come under conviction through the reading of this scripture.

All of us – from the greatest to the lowest – will one day face death. All of us have an appointment with death and then the judgment. Abraham lived a long time and did lots of great and wonderful things, most of them were good, but some not so wise. Finally the time came for him to face death. From the time of Sarah’s death and Isaac’s marriage he accomplished many things.

He provided for his posterity. Abraham, like a number of people, never thought about a cemetery plot till death came. When Sarah died at 127, he realized he had to do something to show he intended for Canaan to be the possession of his descendants. God had told him that his descendents would spend centuries in a foreign land before they ultimately inherited all the land, but he still purchased a burial place near what later became the city of Hebron. He did this to give a family identity to those that would come after him. Also, buy this act, he showed his faith in God’s promise to give this land to him and his descendants. Abraham paid for the land, assuring a clear title to it. This showed he had good business judgment.

There was a second order of business on Abraham’s agenda. We talked about that last week, the marriage of his son Isaac. Isaac was 37 when his mother passed away and still unmarried. Abraham knew that a wife was essential to carry out God’s plan, so Elieazer was sent on his mission.

As much as we love our earthly companion, we cannot quit because God takes our loved one first. Abraham went on with his life after Sarah died, even eventually marrying again and having more children.

Not only when we lose a companion or other loved one, but in all sorrows we must face life daily and refuse to quit when all our goals do not materialize. It is dangerous to bargain with God by promising to do this or that if he will save our loved one. If it is right to do something, it is right to do it whether we get our personal desires or not. Many good people have faced server losses of various kinds and have continued to serve God, sometimes even more faithfully, because there tears have allowed them to see God’s will more clearly than they ever saw it before. Abraham had been promised that he would be the father of many nations. His second marriage made this all the more possible.

He divided his estate while he was still alive. One key factor was prevalent in this decision, the idea of family ties. Among all the ancient nations only the Romans and Jews seemed to have a strong hold on the concept of family. By giving Isaac the major portion of his property, Abraham said to future generations that this was his true family, the one God would use in the redemptive program. Through the centuries the Jews strengthened their moral constraints by remembering that they were the descendants of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The other groups did not feel the same type of closeness as Isaac’s descendents and did not develop the strong faith that the Jews developed. One’s heritage is an extremely important factor in motivating us to live high and holy lives.

Of course Abraham did not leave out the other children. He provided for them, giving each one of them enough to be secure in their lives. A person is wise today that can face the matter of their death with emotional maturity and make what they feel to be a just and fair property settlement while they are still alive.

Abraham died and was buried with dignity. GENESIS 25:9. This may be one of the most overlooked verses of Scripture in the Bible. We can see a lot from this verse, though. Both boys respected their father. Even Ishmael, who very easily could have felt he had been treated unfairly all of his life, stood with Isaac at the death of their father.

Abraham had apparently seen and accomplished everything he wanted to do in his earthly life. His long-awaited son Isaac was now 75 years old, his grandsons, Jacob and Esau were 15. If any character in the Old Testament saw his dreams come true, it was Abraham.

We have traced Abraham from Ur to Machpelah. He was not without fault, but he genuinely was a dedicated man. He was the friend of God and the father of the faithful. Three great religions trace their origins back to him, but his greatest contribution was that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, came from his descendents. He did indeed leave us an example of faith.