I want you and my sweetheart to be friends …
Good morning folks
Those preposterous lines were actually a spouse’s response to being told that she ought not complain about infidelity. In the ballad which hails from the 60s or 70s, the male voice reprimanded the wife about such a suggestion; yet he had actually been unfaithful. Is it selfishness or mere shortsightedness which births such incredible notions? And what if the situation goes a bit more extreme – as is the case with today’s Holy Nougat
“So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.””
Genesis 12:13 NLT
Imagine someone advising a spouse to offer him/herself to strangers in exchange for your safety! Now extend that picture to someone who has walked with God for a while and whose faith ought to be at a premium. It (hopefully) doesn’t compute, right? Yet Abraham was guilty of such, not once but twice.
Having gotten your hackles up subsequent to the morality of such actions, let’s consider the faith aspect also. Abram/Abraham was not on vacation. Nor was he simply about his established business. Rather he was on a Faith pilgrimage which had him confronting some hostile persons and situations along the way. He had a sense of where he was going, but had never been there. What he actually knew about the unencountered was therefore based on hearsay and legend. It was in that context that Abram made Sarah/Sarai the offer she should have refused.
You see my dears, Abram’s response shares a similar pattern to Peter in the storm. Having taken the focus away from God and God’s directive, their eyes were steadfast on the perceived threat which successfully impacted their peace. And, when adrenaline kicked in (our flight, fright or fight reactor); the initial response was fright.
Has that ever happened to you? Where, caught between what feels like the devil and the deep Red Sea, you grasp for the proverbial life raft; only to discover belatedly that self preservation was actually the WORST way to secure your safety? And, to make matters worse, your mistake got saved for posterity – or illustrating what NOT to do in a particular situation. That my dears, is where Abram was. (This is not about condoning Abram’s treatment of Sarai, rather it seeks to help us recognize potential extreme responses when we lose our focus.)
But God
For, in the nick of time, God, our Redeemer, rescued Abram and Sarai from Abram’s folly. And our God does the same for you and me. Every day and for all time. Whether we grab the life raft for ourselves or do the honorable thing and grab for others; our God continues to redeem us! Hence in our act of hallelujah’s unto God, let’s us consider forgiving others who (continue to) commit Abram’s Folly – or something similar – without repentance, for possibly they have not yet experienced the fullness of God’s provision in danger. Wouldn’t that be an amazing way to honor God’s gift to us?
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
