Hagar and Sarah
Day 621, Friday, April 24
Galatians 4:21-31
Paul’s comparison of being children of faith being like being children of Sarah instead of children of Hagar sounds more confusing than clarifying to the modern ear, but would have made a lot more sense to people steeped in the ancient stories of Abraham and his life.
In Genesis, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, is barren. In accordance with tradition, she gives her slave woman, Hagar, to Abraham to bear a child so that he may have descendants. Later, through faith, Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac, from whom the Jewish people are descended.
Paul said, “Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.” That is to say, they are God’s children not by operation of the law, but through faith.
It is worth noting that Paul says in verse 24, “These things are being taken figuratively.” The truth of scripture can be found not just in the literal words, but also in figurative interpretations.
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Friday meditation
Psalms 116:7-19
Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
I trusted in the Lord when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”; in my alarm I said, “Everyone is a liar.”
What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Truly I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did; you have freed me from my chains.
I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord—in your midst, Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
Prayer focus
From the earliest times to the present, God, you have saved your people through the gift of faith. May we receive that blessing.