Jan 20 (Daily reading: Genesis 25-26) Today is our 54th wedding anniversary. Judy and I are soulmates! To commemorate this day, my commentary is from Genesis 24, and is adapted from my book, “We Love Because God First Loves Us.” The marriage of Isaac and Rebekah illustrates the relationship between Christ and the believer. It was by Abraham’s initiative that Rebekah became Isaac’s wife. But Rebekah had to choose: “Then they called Rebekah and said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ And she said, ‘I will go’” (Gen. 24:58). God goes to great lengths to seek us out, as Abraham did to find a bride for Isaac. We are asked, “Will you go with Christ?” The answer that leads to salvation is the same affirmation that Rebekah made, “I will go!”
Rebekah had no idea what awaited her in Canaan as the wife of Isaac. But she saw the hand of God and she was willing to follow His leading. This depicts the relationship between Christ and a person who chooses to follow Him. I saw it also in my marriage to Judy. She was nineteen when we were married, and she knew that I had answered God’s call to be an international missionary. This demanded faith, because once we were married, our two separate journeys became one. This is a picture of a relationship with Christ. We do not know where the relationship will lead us, because when we receive Christ, our destiny becomes the same as His. We go wherever He leads us and we become whatever He intends for us.
We see love and devotion in the story of Isaac and Rebekah. We read that they both “looked up” and each one saw the other one. They were soulmates! “Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus, Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death” (Gen. 24:67). This depicts the mutual love relationship that we have with Christ. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19).
-Al Gary
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