Continuing on through Genesis this morning I am reminded of my personal responsibility to serve God as I know I ought.

So often as Christians we can allow our decisions to be influenced by the persuasion of those close to us; especially it would seem, our spouse. It is easy to believe that the one we love more than any other on earth would have only our best interests at heart and therefore give us the best advice regarding our walk with God. Like Adam at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Abram discovered by hard experience that that is not always the case.

Becoming impatient with God to fulfil His promise to give him an heir, Abram foolishly accepted Sarai’s advice to commit adultery with her servant Hagar in order to gain the long awaited son. Although this advice was socially acceptable in his day Abram knew that it was not the will of God and he agreed with her suggestion and brought upon himself great heartache and perplexity.

At the age of 86 we could expect him to know better but once he had accepted wrong advice and acted on it, he was locked into a situation that has affected the history of the world ever since. From this illicit union came the Arab race and the conflicts between Jews and Arabs ever since.

The lesson of Genesis 16 to me is this: Only God’s word gives us the right advice EVERY TIME!

Have a great day!