Theological Commentary: Click Here
I often
think about the sins of one generation being passed down into the next. We learn arrogance from others. We learn greed. We learn pride. We learn anger. We learn to hurt. We learn to think about ourselves. We learn to build walls. We learn negative behaviors from those who
are around us – those around whom we sent most of our time.
Granted, we
do learn positive things, too. We can
learn to love, to share, too hope, to be humble, to think of others. I don’t want this post to be completely
negative. We can learn good things if
the community around us is good. But
that doesn’t change the fact that we learn bad habits, either.
As I read
through this passage today, I couldn’t help but focus on Hagar’s son’s reaction
to Abraham’s celebration with Isaac. He
laughs at it. He scoffs. He doesn’t join in the celebration; he sets
himself against it.
Do you
remember how Hagar treated Sarah after she became pregnant? Hagar treated Sarah poorly, too. Hagar has passed along her disdain for Sarah
into her son so that he has disdain for Sarah and her child as well.
Realizing
that God does ultimately watch over her and protect her, we should make sure
that we understand that the person to blame for their dismissal from the camp
of Abraham is Hagar. She treated Sarah
with contempt and she taught her child to do the same.
This causes
me to sit back and wonder about myself.
What habits have I picked up from those around me? What habits am I passing on to others? Am I passing along my love that God imparts
in me or am I passing along the sinfulness within?
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