Genesis 18:1-10a (NRSV)
Read Genesis 18:1-10a on biblegateway.com
Chapter 18The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. Verse 2He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. Verse 3He said, "My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Verse 4Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Verse 5Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on-since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said." Verse 6And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes." Verse 7Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Verse 8Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
Verse 9They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" And he said, "There, in the tent." Verse 10Then one said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.
Devotion
Carl Sandburg once said that "a baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." But babies were not in the card for this ancient couple, until three strangers stopped by their tent with a flabbergasting prediction: "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son."
So instead of finalizing their estate plan and setting their affairs in order, Abraham and Sarah were comparing paint swatches for the nursery—their days soon to be punctuated by the pitter-patter of tiny feet.
And the babies would keep coming, for generation after generation, until in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4) one showed up who would be named not Isaac ("laughter") but Jesus, who would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
Prayer
Interrupt our days with astounding promises. You alone, God, hold our future in your gracious hands. Amen.