Wednesday December 31, 2003

What a woman…

   Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
   The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
   “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
   After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water and drew enough for all his camels.
   Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.

— Genesis 24:15-20 —

I read this passage because my little survey before got me thinking about what characteristics did matchmakers use to find a wife. After reading and chewing on this awhile, I couple of things stood out to me.

~ Strong ~

This lady is no slacker. Can you seriously imagine grabbing a jar full of water (not even a bucket!), twice a day for the household, everyday… and not being one buff chica? Add on top of that, she offers to water 10 thristy camels till they stop drinking… Oh yeah, this lady is pumped.

~ Beautiful ~

Why is it that right next to beautiful, you find the word, virgin? Beauty as in moral upstanding? I’m thinking this isn’t just some pale, willow-y beauty. We’re talking strong, beautiful female here… But it is really strange that it doesn’t say she was pleasing to the eye… too deep for me I guess.. :-/

~ Character ~

What kind of girl would go out of her way to help a stranger? If you were a beautiful young girl food shopping, would you stop to help a stranger who asked for assistance? Of course, during these times, it was considered good manners to give water to those who asked politely for it. But to offer to water 10 thirsty camels without having the stranger ask… Reminds me of something Jesus said: “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matt 5:40-42) Give till it hurts… in Jesus’ case, it was give till it bleeds…

~ Caring/Kindness ~

This is simple… If she’s got the heart to take care of some thirsty camels, who does that say about her heart? If she’ll take care of animals that well, it’s a pretty good bet she’s going to treat people better.

~ Action ~

From the last parts of this passage, I visualize this guy looking carefully to see how she acts and what she does. He asks for water and stays silent after that. Watching this beautiful lady to see if her heart matches her looks? Seeing how she treats the camels, watching how she handles lugging this jug back and forth…

== HAPPY NEW YEAR! ==

Thank you, Lord for another beautiful year. It seems like a blink of an eye, with so many things left undone, so many things left unsaid. Help me to make the best of each day, one day at a time. May you continue to work in my heart and my life, so that through me, You may be glorified. I pray all this in the name of Jesus, Amen.