January 8 - Genesis 20-21:21

Ok, Abraham does it again -- The "Sarah-is-my-sister" line.  He does that thing we do -- it's the truth but not the whole truth.  Knowing what we're doing isn't completely right but doing it as right as we know we can and hoping that suffices.  Abraham does it after spending time in the physical presence of the living God.  God eats with him, pretty much spends most of the afternoon with him, gives him a son and he then Abraham turns around and commits the very same sin all over again.  I've had some people tell me, well, technically he was telling the truth.  C'mon.  Even Pharoah and Abimelech knew what he was doing was wrong.  Curious though, he lies to Abimelech and seemingly gets rewarded.  I don't get it.  And then there's the Hagar and Ishmael thing.  Is any of this their fault?  No.  But God tells Abraham, he was inclined in this case to do the right thing, yeah go with Sarah's plan and send them away.  Yes, God will take care of them.  But I wish I knew what God was thinking here.  Why Abraham is the Father of Faith when he seems so faithful and not trusting God when it comes to his wife.  God sees things differently.  And the end of the story, every story, is not in this life.  Hagar, the guy who puts his hand on the ark, the thief who winds up on the cross at Christ's side, if they all end up in Heaven, what difference does it make that God uses their lives on Earth as part of His story.  Can't we be punished here on Earth and still inherit the riches of Heaven.