And there he was on the horizon. The man whose father had given him everything he had. This man she was going to marry was born in Canaan and had not had to worry about anything. It had all been given to him by his father. Everything in Isaac's life had been given to him for his enjoyment and pleasure. Now, would he enjoy her, this courageous girl, who had traveled so far to be with him? She took her veil and veiled herself. Was this an act of modesty or something else? Over the years this bridal veil tradition has been linked to modesty and purity and I expect that is what was going on in our story too. Some say the veil was put in place so the marriage could be consummated before the guy saw who he was really getting. But, we will try not to be that cynical(although there is another Bible story...). We have every reason to believe that this man who had received everything from his father would be thrilled with the bride the servant was bringing to him. To date, this had been his secret to a good life--just receiving! Rebecca, along with Isaac, were about to obtain a life together and they had to do nothing but receive it!
There is a mistake that so many of us in the church make. We see the marriage of the Lamb in our future, but we think we must earn it to attain it. We fail to realize that the inheritance from the God of Abraham and Isaac is a gift. God so loved us that He gave. But it is hard to "just receive" a gift isn't it? When someone gives us a nice gift we immediately want to make sure that we have done enough for that person, or have been good enough to that person, to justify the gift. Sometimes we have a very difficult time enjoying the gift because we cannot allow ourselves to believe the gift was simply given out of love.
Rebecca stood in that field with the servant and decided in her heart that Isaac really wanted her and that the father had really gifted him with her. Similarly we must stand in the field of our hearts and realized that the Servant has brought us to the Son because the Father really wanted to gift us to Him and to Himself. If we have to spend time justifying this event we should think of it this way: I have peace to proceed with this relationship because the Father has justified me through the spilled blood of the Son in whom I have placed my trust. It is a gift to be received. Here's the way the Bible says it:
"So, since we have come to be considered righteous by God because of our trust, let us continue to have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus. Also, through Him and on the ground of our trust, we have gained access to this grace in which we stand...." (Jewish Translation of Rom. 5: 1ff). Like Rebecca we have gained access to a wonderful life. It would be a shame not to enjoy it.
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