“And I said to my lord, ‘What if the woman will not follow after me?’ And he said to me, ‘Yahweh, before whose presence I have been made to walk, shall send his angel with you and he will cause your way to succeed and you shall take a wife for my son from my family, from my father’s house. At that time you will be released from my oath when you have come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you are released from my oath.’”

(Genesis 24:39-41)

Again, Eliezer continues to rehearse the instructions that he has been given for the family of Rebekah, though this time not quite as verbatim as before. Even so, all of the principle portions are in place and it provides us with an important reminder as to how we too should actively work to remind ourselves of the instructions we have been given by our Lord as we go about life in this world. Instructions such as “Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Matthew 22:37), “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19), “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18) and idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14), “Forgive others” (Matthew 6:14-15), and “Pursue righteousness, love, peace along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22) to name just a few.

How often, as those claiming to be born again and given salvation as a gift of God’s grace through faith in the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we fail to act like it. We often live like spoiled princes, pursuing sin rather than living after the character of our Father and our greater brother, Jesus Christ. We who are indebted to God for everything rarely express that thanks in obedience. We may sing all of the praise songs on Sunday, but on Monday our lives betray that the words were empty to our souls. Often we obey those expectations that are easy; ignore those that are hard, and never strive to grow in Christian maturity and grace.

Loved ones, let the humility and submission of Eliezer be a challenge and a model for your days. Rehearse the commands of God that he would place on your life and strive prayerfully to live them out. We will not be perfect in this life, the Holy Spirit will bring any success we will have, but at the same time, that should never stop up from striving toward the goal of Christlikeness in the strength of the Holy Spirit and under the direction of God’s word. If you attend only to earthly things, that to which you attend will pass away. If you attend to spiritual things first, the earthly things will find their proper place in God’s providential care.