Bowed Down

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

BOWED DOWN

Gen 24:22-27

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.   23 Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?" 24 She answered him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor." 25 And she added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night." 26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, 27 saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master's relatives."

NIV

The LORD had directed the path of Abraham's servant to the exact place, at the exact time, and to the exact circumstances so that his will for Isaac would be accomplished. When the servant realized what the LORD had done, leading him to where he was supposed to be, and finding the perfect lady from the same family as his master, he bowed down and worshiped the LORD. His thoughts and prayers focused on how the LORD had not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to his master, Abraham. He praised the LORD for the kindness and faithfulness for someone other than himself. Of course, he was thankful that the LORD led him on the journey to his master's relatives' house, but his prayer focused on his master, Abraham. This should teach us a truth about our prayers: not to focus constantly on ourselves, our needs, our wants, or on being thankful for how much God has done for us, in us, and through us. Although all that is true, he has blessed us beyond measure by human calculations. How could we possibly thank him enough? In fact, our lives should reflect his blessings so that others would see God in us. Unfortunately, our humanity gets in the way, and our reflection is sometimes tarnished, or at least dulled. However, let us also remember that we ought to pray thankfully for the kindness and faithfulness he has shown those whom we serve, those who are in the family of God, our relatives in the Lord. We should be glad and praise God for how he treats others with such kindness and faithfulness. We wonder how much we bow down when we praise him. Have we become too casual with our prayers, too familiar with God, that we do not bow before him, recognizing him as the King of the universe, the Great I AM, the Creator of all that is created,  the One who saved us by His grace? We think of the Pharisee and the tax collector and how different their attitudes about God were. Of those two, who are we most like? Do we stand and make a show of our religiosity, or do we bow low, not worthy enough to even look up to the heavens, because we are but sinners saved by grace? Do we bow down either physically or in our hearts to worship?