Sarah died at the ripe age of 127.
Abraham mourned for her and wanted to have a proper burial place
for her body. He was still a foreigner with no land of his own. He
then did the right thing and went to the Hittite elders to ask if
he can buy a piece of land from them to have as a burial place.
They replied the following to him:
"Certainly, for you are an
honoured prince among us. It will be a privilege to have you choose
the finest of our tombs so you can bury her." Genesis 23:6
Abraham then chose the cave of
Machpelah belonging to Ephron. Abraham wanted to buy it from Ephron
to have as a permanent burial place. Ephron heard about it and said
the following:
"No, sir," he said to Abraham,
"please listen to me. I will give you the cave and the field. Here
in the presence of my people, I give it to you. Go and bury your
dead." Genesis 23:11
But Abraham didn't want the land
for free. He knew that the descendants of Ephron can later on turn
around and say that Abraham cheated their father out of land. He
wanted to pay the full price.
"Well," Ephron answered, "the
land is worth four hundred pieces of silver, but what is that
between friends? Go ahead and bury your dead." Genesis
23:13
With a reply such as that Ephron's
intentions were clear, he actually wanted the money. And Abraham
did the right thing and paid him immediately. Abraham was an
honourable man and did what was right.
These real life stories are
recorded in the Bible to teach us important principles. It is not
by chance that these events are recorded here. We need to learn
from Abraham and follow his example. He was honourable in his
dealings and so should we also be. All of us are involved with some
or other business dealing in our lives, whether it is buying a car
or a house. Whilst other Christians' full time work is to bring
business dealings together. Whatever the case may be, we need to
make sure that we are honest in our dealings. We need to ensure
that we do not cheat the other party and that we are honourable in
our intentions. Sadly we hear a lot of stories of Christians being
dishonest in their dealings. The world does not want to be
Christians due to the bad example some Christians set. Our main
purpose on earth is to exalt God and to draw people into His
Kingdom. We need to keep that in mind in everything that we do.
Abraham was an honoured prince
amongst Gentiles. They could see God in his life. Can the same be
said of you and me? Do our actions reflect God to others? What
would our neighbours say? Are we 'honoured princes' where we live
and work? Or do we simply do what is best for us and not consider
the consequences towards others? God wants us to attract people to
Him and not push them away. Sit somewhere quiet this week and
reassess your life and make sure that your life reflects the true
Light. I know I am going to do that, because in the rush of this
life, I also forget what is truly important!
Father, please help us to be the
reflection of Your light that we are supposed to be. Please help us
to stay in humble obedience to Your Word. Fill us with more and
more of Your Spirit, because only with the help of Your Spirit can
we accomplish anything. In Jesus' Name. Amen