Running Quickly

"after she had given him a drink, she said, "i'll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking." so she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough to feed all of his camels...." (Genesis 24:19-20)

i've been running lately; training for "the great river run" at the end of august. i hate running. i'm not good at it. well, i guess i shouldn't say i hate it because i've actually really wanted to run on days i'm supposed to "rest".... ha! but seriously, it's boring... there's no one to talk to and there's no one to beat except yourself, and sometimes, i loose even then! 

anyhow, as i was getting ready for a run the other day, i remember saying, "God, i reeeally don't want to go running today". and as i was lacing up my second shoe, i heard Him say to me, "I'll go with you, every run".  and with that, i took off.

during that run, i starting thinking about Rebekah's servant heart in Genesis 24. now there's been a lot of commentary and sermons given on this chapter of how men can find wives, but that's not what i get from it. 

brief summary: Isaac needs a wife. his father, Abraham, sends out his servant to find one for him. while praying for guidance, this beautiful girl, Rebekah, walks down to him. he asks her for a drink of water and she "quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink". (Genesis 24:18) not only did she quickly do it, she also said she would draw water for all of his camels too. "after she had given him a drink, she said, "i'll draw water for all of your camels too, until they have finished drinking." so she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels." (Genesis 24:19-20) 

looking closer at the text, i think this is something more than teaching us how to find a mate... i think this shows us how we can be people who quickly run and lay down our lives for the sake of the lost. i think God is looking for a servant that will quickly run! this is what God's doing throughout the whole earth... commissioning the Holy Spirit to captivate people to be the bride of Christ. the number one characteristic of the bride is.....drumroll......................... a servants heart! 

in this story, he had 10 camels. camels consume 40 gallons of water each. you do the math. she lowered her jar, quickly, into the well to quench the thirst of these 10 camels... that's 400 times (assuming the bucket or jar was a gallon)! and she does it quickly! it must have taken all day! she is a servant. just as Abraham's servant was looking for a servant for Isaac to marry, God too, is looking for a servant-hearted person to be part of His bride. 

i pray that the generation that's being raised up right now realizes that we need to be servants first. we can be about community, social justice, discipleship, etc.- that's all good, but what's at the root of it all? they all branch off of the fact that Jesus Christ deserves the reward of His suffering. we sacrifice and do all that we do because we want Jesus to be beautiful. so we serve the poor and pray our guts out so the world can see the beauty of Jesus.

Jesus says the meek will inherit the earth. i want to be a meek and humble servant, like Rebekah, that runs quickly. so i'm going to go grab my shoes...