Love and Comfort

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

LOVE AND COMFORT

Gen 24:62-67

62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, "Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?" "He is my master," the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

NIV

We are not told the thoughts of Rebekah or Isaac as they met for the first time in this field, but we can only imagine it was a sight to behold. Isaac would have been a strong young and most likely handsome young man, and Rebekah, a young virgin girl who may have been beautiful. This is a captive sight that has been repeated over and over again for centuries. We understand the wonder of first seeing that woman of our dreams as she becomes our loving life’s partner. We would imagine the woman would think much the same as she sees the man who would be her life’s partner, in marriage, the institution established by God, that a man and a woman should live as one, in the sanctity of holy matrimony. Isaac took Rebekah into his mother’s tent and she became his wife. It would seem there was no marriage ceremony as we are accustomed to, however, throughout the years, even as those ceremonies started, the marriage was not complete unless it was consummated, and in some cases, witnessed. This may have been the only method of marriage in the time of Isaac and Rebekah. He took her into his mother’s tent and their moment of intimacy was the marriage in the eyes of God. Isaac loved her and she comforted him. This is the way of this wonderful union between a man and a woman. Love and comfort are what make the two become one. How can we live apart from the incredible union? It has happened over the years, as age creeps up or something happens to disrupt that union or tear it apart through death. Yet, if we are still blessed to walk this life with this union intact, let us always be thankful to our Lord for each day we can live as one flesh, with love and comfort in our hearts and spirits. For us men, the beauty of our bride is always there, never leaving, as we experience this oneness with her. And we would hope that she always sees that strong young man full of life and feeling her comfort as on the day of marriage. Let us always be full of love and comfort all the days of our lives together.