Vs.45- “And before I had done speaking in mine heart;
behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder;”- Indicating that Rebekah
was an answer to the servant’s prayer and therefore the appointed wife of
Isaac. (See Vs.15)
“and she went down unto the well, and drew water:”-
(See
Vs.16)
“and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.”- (See Vs.17)
Vs.46- “And she made haste, and let down her pitcher
from her shoulder,”- (See Vs.18)
“and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels
drink also:”- (See Vs.19)
“so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.”-
(See
Vs.20)
One-Line Explanation-
The servant tells the family how Rebekah got water for him and his
camels.
Lesson:
Recognition. The servant praised
Rebekah’s actions earlier in the day in his retelling of the story to her
family. I’m sure that Rebekah
appreciated the recognition and the family was proud of their daughter’s
character. Parents enjoy hearing others
brag on their children, and everyone enjoys
being recognized and appreciated for the good deeds that they do. Some, however, make this too high of a
priority and get bent out of shape if they don’t feel they are being adequately
appreciated and recognized. I have seen
many people in churches get upset with the Pastor and the church because they
feel that they should have been recognized for something they did or they feel
that they are underappreciated. Here are
a few practical truths concerning this.
1.) Don’t serve for the praise of
men. It is not wrong to get praised and
recognized, but don’t let that be your motivation. The Bible says that the Pharisees prayed,
fasted, and gave alms for the praise of men and Jesus sharply rebuked them for
this. We should serve the Lord out of
love for Him and a desire to glorify Him; recognition is just an occasional pleasant
by-product. Rebekah did what was right
because she feared God and it was her character to serve. She did not know that her actions would be
rehearsed to her family. The Bible tells
us to serve God in humility and the Lord will lift us up. Someone who is seeking praise and recognition
is full of pride and God will bring that individual down, but someone who is
humbly serving God with Christ-like character will be lifted up. 2.) Give
honor to whom honor is due (Rom.13:7).
If someone has done something worth praising and it is in your power to
recognize them, then give them the honor that they deserve. As parents we try to brag on our children
when they do right. A Pastor should try
and recognize the hard work and sacrifice of the congregation. A husband should praise his wife for all of
her labor. A wife, a husband, a child, a
church member should do what is right because they want to please God, but it
sure does help to be shown a little appreciation! 3.) God sees the action and the motivation. God will give you the appropriate reward. We don’t have to worry about if the church
family or the pastor or our friends recognize our service for the Lord, because
we know that God sees our labor and God will reward us. In fact most of what we do as Christians is
supposed to be done in secret. God tells
us to pray in secret, give alms in secret, fast in secret and He will reward us
openly. The servant, a type of God the
Spirit, recognized the character and actions of Rebekah. You can be sure that your actions for the
Lord in this world will be seen by God and when we get home to heaven they will
be recognized and rehearsed in the ears of the family of God!
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