So after my BIG DAY "Gotcha" celebrating the adoption of my foster grandson (The day I forgot to do my blog), I am back at part 2 of "There's Power in Your Serve". Remember if you'd like the CD teaching just click here for the entire message: http://mfcbookstore.bigcartel.com/product/saved-to-serve-by-pastor-rena-perozich-cd-single
After seeing that Rebecca passed his test, why did Eliezer stand by and just watch Rebecca laboriously and singlehandedly provide water for all his camels?
Eliezer considered this part of the test. There are those who make generous offers but do an inadequate job, quit, or don’t follow through completely. There are others who may do their job, but though they make no demands, they expect some form of compensation or gratitude.
Eliezer continued watching carefully, to see her approach to carrying out a difficult task. These moments would be extremely telling as to whether her offer stemmed from a genuine desire to help someone, or if there was some other underlying motive to her kind behavior. It was only after her job was done, during which she had no expectations from him, that he was able to be absolutely convinced that she had passed. The “camel test” was a glimpse of Rebecca’s greatness, as she conducted herself in what she would have considered ordinary everyday activity.
It is later on in the story, after she is brought to Sarah’s tent, that we learn of her immense spiritual standing. The three miracles of Sarah’s tent that resumed with Rebecca’s arrival correspond to the three prominent commandments (mitzvot) given to the Jewish women of all future generations: lighting candles to welcome the Shabbat, separating a piece of the challah dough, and the laws relating to intimacy within marriage. The challenge and significance of these mitzvot cannot be underscored enough; they are the bedrock of Jewish continuity in the fullest sense. However, the preceding account of Rebecca and the “camel test” should be the examples that direct and inspire us in how to approach our responsibilities in terms of these three mitzvot.
What significant lesson can we learn today from how Rebecca responded to the test?
Rebecca teaches us to take this goal of boundless lovingkindness, and chesed. Rebecca teaches us to challenge ourselves with real, selfless commitment and challenge ourselves with real, selfless commitment. Rebecca teaches us to be initiators, to look for times and places where we can be of service, to be proactive and useful, without calculating whether there are others around who could, or should, do the same.
We are taught by the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the chassidic movement, that a soul can come into this world for seventy or eighty years with the sole purpose of doing a favor for another. That ability to help someone in need, that chesed, was what Eliezer sought, for he knew it was the essential trait that would determine the candidate to be a genuine matriarch of the Jewish nation.
You never know who is watching you or what test you are having the opportunity of passing. Be deliberate. Think through your actions. What will you do when your Camel Test arrives?
After seeing that Rebecca passed his test, why did Eliezer stand by and just watch Rebecca laboriously and singlehandedly provide water for all his camels?
Eliezer considered this part of the test. There are those who make generous offers but do an inadequate job, quit, or don’t follow through completely. There are others who may do their job, but though they make no demands, they expect some form of compensation or gratitude.
Eliezer continued watching carefully, to see her approach to carrying out a difficult task. These moments would be extremely telling as to whether her offer stemmed from a genuine desire to help someone, or if there was some other underlying motive to her kind behavior. It was only after her job was done, during which she had no expectations from him, that he was able to be absolutely convinced that she had passed. The “camel test” was a glimpse of Rebecca’s greatness, as she conducted herself in what she would have considered ordinary everyday activity.
It is later on in the story, after she is brought to Sarah’s tent, that we learn of her immense spiritual standing. The three miracles of Sarah’s tent that resumed with Rebecca’s arrival correspond to the three prominent commandments (mitzvot) given to the Jewish women of all future generations: lighting candles to welcome the Shabbat, separating a piece of the challah dough, and the laws relating to intimacy within marriage. The challenge and significance of these mitzvot cannot be underscored enough; they are the bedrock of Jewish continuity in the fullest sense. However, the preceding account of Rebecca and the “camel test” should be the examples that direct and inspire us in how to approach our responsibilities in terms of these three mitzvot.
What significant lesson can we learn today from how Rebecca responded to the test?
Rebecca teaches us to take this goal of boundless lovingkindness, and chesed. Rebecca teaches us to challenge ourselves with real, selfless commitment and challenge ourselves with real, selfless commitment. Rebecca teaches us to be initiators, to look for times and places where we can be of service, to be proactive and useful, without calculating whether there are others around who could, or should, do the same.
We are taught by the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the chassidic movement, that a soul can come into this world for seventy or eighty years with the sole purpose of doing a favor for another. That ability to help someone in need, that chesed, was what Eliezer sought, for he knew it was the essential trait that would determine the candidate to be a genuine matriarch of the Jewish nation.
You never know who is watching you or what test you are having the opportunity of passing. Be deliberate. Think through your actions. What will you do when your Camel Test arrives?
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