| Genesis 23:4 "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
Marrying and burying are nearly as old as life itself and somewhat bookend one's life. You can tell much about a nation and a culture by the way they marry and the way they bury. In Genesis 23-24, Abraham buries his wife, Sarah, and marries off his son, Isaac. Talk about two major life events! We catch a glimpse of the governing ethic in Abraham's dealings in life in Genesis 23:4 and 24:. Abraham said, "I am a stranger and sojourner with you," and, "Thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell." Abraham saw himself as "stranger" just dwelling among the people. He knew he didn't belong! Canaan may have belonged to Abraham, but Abraham did not belong to Canaan. If you are a child of God, you are a "stranger" here on earth. So into what are you investing? This truth struck me recently while thinking about the Bill Rice Ranch. The ground we use for camps in the summer and events throughout the year actually belonged, at one time, to a family named Haynes. (Ironically, their first names were Abraham and Sarah!) The land we own now and on which we play games, swim, ride horses, and have preaching services used to belong to a family. The Haynes moved onto a land that someone else owned before them, evidenced by the Indian artifacts on the mountain. Ultimately, what you own in this "strange" land will be gone and forgotten. Why in the world would you make this world all that you own? You will leave it all behind! On the other hand, what you invest in Heaven will never fade away. This world is not all that there is; the best is yet to come. Abraham knew that. Do you? "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles . . . For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Hebrews 11:9-10)
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