I find the circumstances of Genesis 18 quite interesting. It starts out by telling us that the Lord appeared to Abraham while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
That was a common time of rest. It was just too hot to work and maybe Abraham was bored.
He spots three visitors but he apparently doesn’t recognize them yet he rushes to them and invites them in. He offers water for them to wash their own feet and offers a meal. Abraham clearly wanted the company.
Dear Sarah, as we noticed in yesterday’s devotional, the woman behind a successful man, is in the background, but now she is expected to whip up three loaves of bread and supervise a servant who needs to kill, clean and cook a calf. This is not a ten-minute-job. He doesn’t even seem to realize that the visitors are the Lord and a couple of angels until the Lord talks to Sarah about having a child in a year’s time.
Finally, the men get up to leave and Abraham walks with them to see them on their way. By now Abraham knows who his visitors are, but at first, he just wanted to offer them a good meal.
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2, NIV
Prayer- God, thank you for visiting angels. Help us to recognise them, even if we have to cook a meal first! Amen.
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