Responsibilities

Bible readings for the day: Genesis 20-21

Abraham's attitude is not always responsible, in particular often seek safety in the face of danger or conflict which eventually led to a bitter fruit, that he should expel Hagar, his mistress, and Ismail, own son (21:10-14).

As the head of household, Abraham should not simply follow her advice to take Hagar as a young wife, because it reflects the distrust of the ability of God fulfilled His promise to give Abraham descendants. Because Abraham did not dare to take responsibility in decision-making, not surprising that Abraham's confusion when his wife asked him to drive his young wife. If Abraham took responsibility as head of household who makes decisions, dilemmas (two difficult choices) of selecting a young wife or an old wives would not have happened.

In the structure of the Christian family, the husband is the head of the stairs that should lead in decision-making and should lead the whole family to follow the will of God. Although the husband and wife must work together in educating children, the responsibility remains in the hands of husbands. Wife is a companion to help her husband so her husband could carry out their responsibilities. If the husband is not responsible, the wife will occupy the position of the husband, and the decisions taken by the wife will be heavily influenced by an unstable feeling. If a wife wants her husband to carry out their responsibilities properly, he should always give support and encouragement to her husband.

Colossians 3:18
"Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord."

Who's Building Your Children?

Bible readings for the day: Genesis 19

Options Lot to settle in the city of Sodom was wrong because he's just the aspect of soil fertility (prosperity) and ignore the need for a good environment. As a result, pagan vision helped shape the views of children Lot (13:10,11, 19:31-32).

If people in ancient times, especially the aspect of soil fertility in choosing a place to live, people in the present, especially prioritizing business development facility, education, and entertainment, which also will also determine the price of land. From the beginning until now, rarely a priority there is spiritual development and a good environment for the children as the main criteria in choosing a place to live.

A lot of people wrong by assuming that our lives and our families is determined by the material, when in fact many factors that shape these lives. By prioritizing the material, Lot forget that the neighborhood will help shape the mindset of his children. After the city of Sodom and Gomorrah and the Jordan valley were destroyed by God with fire and brimstone, the two girls Lot felt that they had to connect the descendants of the family and the only way to have children is by having sex with their fathers because there is no other man can they meet. As a result, the older daughter gave birth to a boy named "Moab", ie the ancestor of Moab, and the younger gave birth to a boy named "Ben-Ami", the ancestor of the Ammonites. Both nations are hostile to Israel. It was horrible due to the influence of environment on the behavior of the daughters of Lot's family!

Proverbs 22:6
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

The Importance of Keeping the Faith

Bible readings for the day: Genesis 16-17

Faith is absolutely necessary to hold the promise of God who sometimes seemed absurd. Doubt makes Abraham's hard to refuse when his wife suggested that he take Hagar as a concubine. A moment of faith can bring off the painful effects.

Sara who had menopausal difficult to keep believing that she would get pregnant and bear children for Abraham. Therefore, Sarah suggested that Abraham take Hagar as a concubine. Abraham's willingness to follow the advice of Sara is an ironic thing to remember that in the previous chapter, Abraham believed God's promise that he himself would have descendants (15:5-6).

To understand this story objectively, be aware that the events as God reaffirms his promise to give offspring to Abraham and Hagar when Sara offers to be taken as a young wife who is an interval of perhaps about 10 years. Even though Abraham and Sarah seems to believe God's promise of their descendants, they are not too sure that this promise will be fulfilled through the womb of Sara. They do not think that the idea took Hagar as a young wife with a very bad effect, namely competition and conflict between old wife and a young wife (16:4-6; 21:9-14). Later, their descendants developed into the nations warring in Palestine today.

Sad side of the story of Abraham's family, reminds us that faith in God's promises must be maintained in the long run, not just one or two years, but for life. Removing the faith can bring painful consequences!

James 1:2-3
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

Trusting God

Bible readings for the day: Genesis 12-13

Abraham was willing to obey God's command to leave his country and his extended family because he believed that God always meant well and would preserve his life. If we do not believe in God, for even simple commands we will be hard to obey.

The displacement of Abraham from his family environment is important to remember that Abraham most likely come from the moon gods. Even so, Abraham did not follow the practice of idolatry. The influence of the worship of the god of the moon visible from the action of stealing Rachel terafim (small-sized statue of the god, so easy to take) belonged to his father (31:19). Given such a family context, not surprising that God wants Abraham to leave his family environment.

Imagine the difficulties and risks that must be faced by Abraham in following God's command. Abraham was a rich man who had many possessions (13:6) and many servants. Maid who can afford to go to war alone amounted to 318 people (14:14). According to the size of that era, it is clear that he could be classified as a conglomerate. Imagine also how much the journey that must be taken by Abraham and his party given the distance from Haran into Jerusalem is about 890 km. Remember also that the transportation was generally used as a vehicle and camel road conditions at that time was much worse than now. Therefore, following God's command to move from Haran to the land of Palestine is a very hard struggle, so that the necessary faith to believe and obey God's command. [P]

Hebrews 11:8
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

Responsibility to Our Family

Bible readings for the day: Genesis 4-5

Cain and Abel story is a reminder that God must be hold accountable for all of our attitudes and actions toward other people that God placed all around us (Compare this with Ezekiel 3:18).

"Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) is a reflection of the attitude of Western individualism, which is currently being spread as a result of globalization. Without te-sense, attitudes contrary to the general norms of togetherness in this Eastern world as if he were to accept justification. At present, active, competition, and the difficulties of life make human beings tend to think of himself. More and more elderly people who feel lonely and the children who are not noticed by her parents. In fact, we often encounter struggles between brothers inherited.

In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and the scribes who regard the maintenance of the parents as less important than religious purposes (Matthew 15:5). The Apostle Paul also rebuked those who ignore the hard responsibilities of the family, "if anyone does not provide for his relatives, let alone the rest of the house, people the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Timothy 5:8).

Although the burden of this life is increasingly heavy, we must always remember that family care responsibilities who are elderly should not be handed over to the church or charity and responsibility for the care and raising children should not be left to domestic servants.

Genesis 4:10
His Word: "What have you done this? Brother's blood cried unto me from the ground."