12/18/2025
"...and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door
to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,
and said, 'My Lord, if I have found favor in Your sight,
do not pass on by Your servant.'"
Genesis 18:2-3
Abraham was almost one hundred years of age, sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day, the Bible says, when he sees three men approaching from up the road. I've never been in Israel to experience their summer heat, but I have lived in some and visited some places where the heat is so consuming that, if I were Abraham's age, would make me rethink where I'd want to be seated at the height of the sun's intensity dressed in a coarse garment that fits to the ground. I'd probably be in the closest watering hole with the animals vying for first place to sit in the coolness of the stream. Sarah was probably sweltering inside the tent, kneading out the daily loaf of bread or busy about some domestic task that never lessens. She was nearing 90 herself, and the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12 when he was 75, and again in Chapters 13, 16, and 17, to make him the father of nations, had not produced one child, except for Ishmael through Sarah's servant Hagar, when Sarah decided to help the promise along. That didn't work out then, and it hasn't worked well up to our present day. Time was running out, she no doubt may have considered. But in the fullness of His - God's - timing, along came three men walking down the road twenty-five years later.
Abraham welcomes his visitors, offering water to wash their feet, inviting them to sit down under the shade of the tree while he brings them some refreshments. So, again, Abraham hurries inside the tent to ask Sarah to quickly prepare bread and make cakes, then he runs to the herds where he selects a calf, giving it to his young man with the words to hasten to prepare it. Next, Abraham takes milk and butter and sets it before them with the rest of the food. That's a lot of rushing around in the heat of the day, don't you think? Nonetheless, the visitors eat heartily, and then during the meal as they shared, the promise of an offspring through Sarah is mentioned again. Sarah was listening from the tent, and she giggled at the thought of this idea, considering her age and that of Abraham. But the angel of the Lord responded, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" (Genesis 18:14), then announcing that at the appointed time he would return to her, and Sarah would have a son. As I've mentioned previously in my writings, God always does things in His time, not ours.
Two of the three men rise and begin to walk down the road towards Sodom and Gomorrah, at this point of the story, and Abraham walks with the angel of the LORD, sending them on their way. The scripture says that the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing...." (Genesis 18:17). This is where Abraham has been given the inside scoop on Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham is able to bargain with the LORD regarding rescuing his nephew Lot who dwells in Sodom. And, my friends, the rest is history, Judeo-Christianity history that includes salvation to the Jews first and then the Gentiles. But I don't want to focus on this part of the story, but on the former. Abraham and Sarah were both rewarded for their faith, but what is clearly revealed in the initial portion of this scripture is Abraham's vitality and hunger for God. He didn't just idle through life, lazily awaiting his breakthrough, he was busy running around, excited, eager to reach out to strangers. He didn't walk, he ran! From the moment God asked Abraham to move away from his home, going to a place he knew not, Abraham followed God with obedience. He had such a deep hunger for those things that pleased His heavenly Father.
This story causes me to examine my position in Christ in awaiting His return and what follows. I am anxiously awaiting His return with a deep, deep, insatiable hunger and thirst for righteousness' sake. Please illuminate our paths, dear Lord, so that we will be found faithful when You come.
I BOW
by Bethel
[Verse 1]
Where would I run But to the throne of mercy
Where would I kneel
But at this cross of grace
How great the love
How strong the hand that holds us
Beautiful, so beautiful
[Chorus]
So here, I bow, to lift You high
Jesus, be glorified
In all things, for all my life
I am Yours, forever Yours
[Verse 2]
There is a King
Who bore the scars of healing
There is a Son
Who came in grace and truth
How great the love
That carries us to kindness
Wonderful, You’re wonderful
[Chorus]
So here, I bow, to lift You high
Jesus, be glorified
In all things, for all my life
I am Yours, forever Yours
[Bridge]
God here, and now, be lifted high
Right here, and now, be glorified
God of heaven and earth
God who brought me back to life
I am Yours, forever Yours
God here, and now, be lifted high
Right here, and now, be glorified
God of heaven and earth
God who brought me back to life
I am Yours, forever Yours
[Chorus]
So here, I bow, to lift You high
Jesus, be glorified
In all things, for all my life
I am Yours, forever Yours
[Outro]
So here, I bow, to lift You high
Jesus, be glorified
In all things, and for all my life
I am Yours, forever Yours ...
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