Do you remember the story last week of Hagar’s little boy? Hagar was a maidservant to Abraham and Sarah and living far away from her homeland in Egypt. God had promised a son to Abraham and Sarah, but Sarah was old enough to be a great-grandmother, and she had never had any children.
What can I do to make God’s promise come true? thought Sarah. Then she said to Abraham, Take Hagar instead of me.
Was that a good plan? It was God Himself who made His promise to Sarah that she would have a son, and do you think He needs help from us to make His promises come true? He has promised that if I come to Him to have my sins washed away, He won’t cast me out. “Him [or her] that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). But should I fix myself up first? No. Come just as you are. He doesn’t need any help from us to make His promises come true, and He didn’t need any help from Sarah either.
It seemed as if Sarah’s plan worked. Abraham married Hagar and soon they had a little son named Ishmael. But that did not change God’s promise to Sarah. When Ishmael was about fourteen, Abraham and Sarah did have their promised son whom they named Isaac. His mother fed him until he was able to eat by himself. Now that Isaac was no longer a baby, Abraham celebrated with a big party.
Teenage Ishmael mocked little Isaac and the big party. What’s all this big fuss about? You never had a party for me! But Sarah remembered God’s promise. Mocking little Isaac was almost like mocking God who had made that promise, and she was very upset about it. Yes, she had made a pretty bad mistake years ago, and that was sin to doubt God’s promise. But there was true faith in her heart.
Send Hagar and her son away, Sarah said to Abraham. He was very sorry to do this because he loved Ishmael, but he knew it was time for Hagar to go. The two boys would not be able to get along together.
Abraham put a bottle of water on Hagar’s shoulder, gave her some bread and sent her away. God saw her go, and God took care of her and her son. The water was soon gone, and Ishmael was very thirsty, but Hagar had nothing to give him. She laid him under the shelter of a bush and went a little piece away so she would not see him die.
That’s not the end of the story. God heard the voice of thirsty Ishmael, and God opened Hagar’s eyes so that she saw a well of water. She quickly filled her bottle and gave Ishmael a good, long drink. She listened to God’s promise that Ishmael would grow up and be a wild man and have twelve sons. Every word of it came true. God’s promises always do!
In one of two ways, God’s Word will come true in your life and even in eternity. We all have made many mistakes, like disobeying, not telling the truth, being selfish and there are lots more. They are all sin. That proves that 1 Kings 8:4646If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; (1 Kings 8:46) is true: “There is no [person] that sinneth not.” But God has given you and me a special promise in His Word, the Bible: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)).
If you will accept Christ Jesus as your very own Saviour, God’s promise is that you will never have to bear the punishment for your sins. Christ Jesus died on Calvary’s cross for you. He shed His blood there to clean you from your sins, if you will admit to Him that you are a sinner and by faith believe that He took the punishment for your sins during those three hours of darkness while He hung on the cross. “We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:77In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7)).
However, God’s Word also warns that boys or girls or grown-ups who will not believe that Christ Jesus died for their sins will face God’s punishment for their sins for all eternity. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:27-2827And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:27‑28)). “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).
You may read this story for yourself in Genesis 21:1-201And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. 6And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age. 8And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. 12And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. 14And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. 17And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 18Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. 20And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. (Genesis 21:1‑20).
ML-05/19/2013