Sermon Central
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Serve Like A Girl! Series
Contributed by Steve Ely on Aug 19, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: It is an insult that is still used today on playgrounds across the globe. Little boys testing their strength and dexterity against one another revert back to this proverbial slap in the face by throwing down the gauntlet of this time proven stab. However
“Like a Girl”
Part 3 – Serve Like A Girl
I. Introduction
You may have missed the start of this series called “Like a Girl!” I reminded you that most of us of have heard or used the phrase “like a girl” as an insult. I have been reevaluating this phrase as a challenge. So, I have challenged you to “Fight Like a Girl!” and to “Pray Like a Girl!”
This morning I want to challenge you on this birthday celebration morning to “Serve Like A Girl!”
II. Text
1 Abraham was now an old man. GOD had blessed Abraham in every way.
2-4 Abraham spoke to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of everything he had, "Put your hand under my thigh and swear by GOD—God of Heaven, God of Earth—that you will not get a wife for my son from among the young women of the Canaanites here, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac."
5 The servant answered, "But what if the woman refuses to leave home and come with me? Do I then take your son back to your home country?"
6-8 Abraham said, "Oh no. Never. By no means are you to take my son back there. GOD, the God of Heaven, took me from the home of my father and from the country of my birth and spoke to me in solemn promise, ’I’m giving this land to your descendants.’ This God will send his angel ahead of you to get a wife for my son. And if the woman won’t come, you are free from this oath you’ve sworn to me. But under no circumstances are you to take my son back there." (something here about refusing to leave children behind or let them go back)
9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn oath.
10-14 The servant took ten of his master’s camels and, loaded with gifts from his master, traveled to Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. Outside the city, he made the camels kneel at a well. It was evening, the time when the women came to draw water. He prayed, "O GOD, God of my master Abraham, make things go smoothly this day; treat my master Abraham well! As I stand here by the spring while the young women of the town come out to get water, let the girl to whom I say, ’Lower your jug and give me a drink,’ and who answers, ’Drink, and let me also water your camels’—let her be the woman you have picked out for your servant Isaac. Then I’ll know that you’re working graciously behind the scenes for my master."
15-17 It so happened that the words were barely out of his mouth when Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel whose mother was Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with a water jug on her shoulder. The girl was stunningly beautiful, a pure virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. The servant ran to meet her and said, "Please, can I have a sip of water from your jug?"
18-21 She said, "Certainly, drink!" And she held the jug so that he could drink. When he had satisfied his thirst she said, "I’ll get water for your camels, too, until they’ve drunk their fill." She promptly emptied her jug into the trough and ran back to the well to fill it, and she kept at it until she had watered all the camels.
The man watched, silent. Was this GOD’s answer? Had GOD made his trip a success or not? (Don’t tell anyone but men can be slow sometimes!)
22-23 When the camels had finished drinking, the man brought out gifts, a gold nose ring weighing a little over a quarter of an ounce and two arm bracelets weighing about four ounces, and gave them to her.
III. Girl Lessons
a. Girl served with excellence.
Want you to get the picture of what Rebekah did. It was the time of the day that the young women would come to draw water. On this particular day Rebekah did what was customary. She didn’t do anything special. She did exactly what every other person would have done. She met a man at the well who had been traveling and offered him a drink. But notice that Rebekah went one step further and exemplified the trait that marks her as extraordinary. What set Rebekah apart was a spirit of excellence. She went above and beyond the normal, customary expectations and duties. She went beyond what was written in her job description. How did Rebekah exhibit excellence? She not only offered the servant a drink, but out of her spirit of excellence and service, she also drew water for every camel.
