Love at the Starting Line

CONSIDER THIS

Picture a house. A very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard…no, sorry, wrong house. This one has one guy living with two women — one his wife, the other his housekeeper — and they both have sons who call the man “dad” Yea, you got it, not a happy home. You can read about it in the Bible.

It’s a tale of two women. The apostle Paul uses this historical story as an allegory. The two women represent two different choices, two different covenants. Hagar was the slave girl, her son Ishmael was born into slavery. But Sarah was free and gave birth because of God’s promise, power and grace. Isaac was ultimately born as the promised son.

You see, Abraham was a great man. Yet this friend of God, this father of faith, this incredible man had a problem that God recorded as a lesson for each of us today: “I better help God.” His first baby son was born as a result of a misguided surrogate slave girl scheme. His attempt to please God by human effort shows how we are all broken, in need of a Savior.

Push God, rush God, help God — and you’ll have an Ishmael on your hands.

Instead throw the law out into the desert. And trust God, every step of the way. Recognize God’s love is not at the finish line — it’s at the starting line. We don’t run the race hoping that God will then love us. We run the race knowing He loves us from the beginning, even when we were still sinners. It’s time to rejoice! So live in God’s freedom, as He planned it all along.