When she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink." Genesis 24:19
"Are you who the person you are looking for is looking for?" Pastor Andy Stanley asks this question when talking to people who are single but want to be married. Although particularly poignant for those who are searching for a spouse, this is a good question for anyone to ponder. For those who are single, if they are looking for a person who loves God, the person they are looking for is also looking for a person who loves God. If they are looking for a person who is kind, that person they are looking for is also looking for a person who is kind. After all, a kind person would not want to date or marry an unkind person. When considering dating or friendships, we often focus on the character of the people we surround ourselves with, but it is also important to be the kind of people ourselves who we are looking for. We will be reminded of this truth in our study today, which is found in Genesis 24:15-31.
We left off yesterday in Genesis 24, where Abraham's servant is looking for a wife for Isaac, Abraham's son. He is sent to look for a woman of character who is from Abraham's native land. This servant's determination is that, while he is at a well in Abraham's native land, he will ask a woman for a drink, and if she grants his request and also offers to water his camels, he will know that she is the right wife for Isaac. You see, he is looking for a woman of character who is willing to do more than asked and wants to honor God in everything she does. The time comes when Abraham's servant spots a woman named Rebekah at the well. He promptly asks her for water. Now, at this point, she could have given him water, and then went home, and there would have been nothing wrong with that response. She would have done everything that was asked of her. Instead, Rebekah notices the camels with Abraham's servant and realizes that they must be needing water, too. Despite the inconvenience, she offers to get water for the camels, too. In doing this, she proves her character, and Abraham's servant knows that this is the woman for Isaac to marry.
Can you imagine if Rebekah had decided not to offer to water the camels that day? Her life would have been drastically different. Instead, she chose kindness. She chose hard work. She was the person who the person she was looking for was looking for. She had built that character so that she was prepared when Abraham's servant came to her homeland to find a wife for Isaac.
Like Rebekah, we, too, have a choice. Will we build character now so that we have the traits that people are looking for? Will we become the people who we are looking for are looking for?
So, are you who the person you are looking for is looking for? You were challenged in our study yesterday to make a list of the traits you are looking for in a spouse or friend. If you have not made that list yet, make that list now. Next, take out your list and evaluate it. Do you also have those same traits? If not, what traits do you need to work on? Begin working on those traits today.
Read Genesis 24:15-31 (NLT)
Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.”
“Yes, my lord,” she answered, “have a drink.” And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels.
The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission. Then at last, when the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring for her nose and two large gold bracelets for her wrists.
“Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “And please tell me, would your father have any room to put us up for the night?”
“I am the daughter of Bethuel,” she replied. “My grandparents are Nahor and Milcah. Yes, we have plenty of straw and feed for the camels, and we have room for guests.”
The man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. “Praise the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham,” he said. “The Lord has shown unfailing love and faithfulness to my master, for he has led me straight to my master’s relatives.”
The young woman ran home to tell her family everything that had happened. Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to meet the man at the spring. He had seen the nose-ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man had said. So he rushed out to the spring, where the man was still standing beside his camels. Laban said to him, “Come and stay with us, you who are blessed by the Lord! Why are you standing here outside the town when I have a room all ready for you and a place prepared for the camels?”
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