“And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him. And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: But thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.”
In that culture it was important for people to take time to go through all the obligations of polite society. Sometimes it would take a day or two before any business was discussed. They first had to eat food and drink the right drinks before they made conversation about irrelevant issues and spend time discussing the hosts animals and crops before they moved on to family issues and local politics. However, this man didn’t do any of those things. He refused to eat until he had he told his errand. He was another man’s ambassador. Abraham gave this man a job to do and he was determined to do this job before anything else. Even though he had lost his position as Abraham’s heir
(compare this with Judges 19: 8, 9 “And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them. And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.”) It is very easy to procrastinate and use social obligations as an excuse and then things will not get done. In 2 Tim 4: 2 we read “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” We should always be ready to do our Master’s business. There will always be a good excuse but the result is always the same, the Master’s business is left undone.
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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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