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11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my
people. Bury your dead.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing,
“Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from
me so I can bury my dead there.”
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Cold was only the beginning of the pain we felt. The wind
was blowing and it was dark and we were tired from practice. The bus was
nowhere in sight and my buddy and I had a mile to walk on this last leg of my
usual one hour commute.
Our neighborhood was pretty good but it had a drug dealer
and wouldn’t you know he and his thugs pulled up and offered a ride. We dove
into the cars’ warmth and rode home in style. I mean I wasn’t going to use or
sell drugs so it was okay right?
- My comfort sometimes makes me compromise my standards.
- My lifestyle sometimes makes me take shortcuts.
- My desire to avoid obstacles makes me take the easy route which may end up with a very bad outcome.
Abraham had a standard to never accept any charity from the
group of violent people. He said “they will never be able to say they made me
what I am” so he never compromised. Many
times I compromised to “fit in” or to “be comfortable.” I wonder what GOD would have to say about
that.
- GOD wants me to choose HIM over my comfort.
- GOD wants me to focus on HIS standards of love, grace and mercy rather than going the easy route of judgment and slander.
- GOD wants me to hold on to HIM rather than compromise.
When I choose to sin I am compromising what GOD said is
right. I may mask my sin in blame or circumstance but when GOD looks at it, it’s
still sin. HE wants me to follow HIS standard to bring others to HIM rather
than pushing them away.
- Have you lowered your standard in any areas of your life?
- Are you showing grace to “those people” that GOD is showing you?
- Are you looking at yourself in a pitiful, deserving way or can you face the obstacle in front of you with GOD?
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