“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.” Genesis 16:1
This sounds like the beginning of a bad story. IT IS! God had promised Abram a multitude of children. He told him one night to “look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be.” But Sarai was barren. What was he to do? Well, his wife came up with a plan. “Perhaps I will obtain children through her”, regarding her maid Hagar. Then, as we read through this section of Genesis, Abram listens to Sarai, takes Hagar as a wife, and Ishmael is born. He would be called a “wild donkey of a man”, and become the Father of all Arabs, the Enemies of the Jews to this day.
And the Lesson for the Day? Our Actions have consequences; All Of Them! Whether good or bad, smart or dumb, big or small, we WILL REAP what we have sown. As a farmer that plants a seed, and only expects to reap the product of that seed, so we too should do the same. The only problem is, that this has very serious and eternal implications. Paul said to the Galatians, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Serious Indeed!!