Genesis 24:15-21

2008.Feb.23 02:03

Not your everyday courting

Read Genesis 24:15-21 | Full Chapter

Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar." She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.
(Genesis 24:15-21, NASB)

Everybody is so nice in this passage. Well, anyway, the servant and Rebekah are so nice. Both of them are practicing servanthood–Abraham’s servant, by his care in seeking a wife for Isaac, and Rebekah, by her attentions to this traveler. They both exhibit one of the keys of true service to another, which is that their service is complete. Rebekah does not merely give the servant a bit to drink, but goes back to the well and draws additional water for his camels. Likewise, the servant does not just watch to see if she seems like a decent lady, but even once it’s clear that Rebekah is fulfilling the signs for which the servant had prayed, he’s watching her; he could have, at her first approach, said, “She looks good and is polite. Let’s go.” But instead, because he chooses to serve Abraham well watches Rebekah carefully to judge her qualities as best he can in this short span.

And, well, that’s the point I’m wanting to make in a nutshell. In a smaller nutshell, service to others is more than doing the minimum to help or please, it is rather helping in a complete way.