0020 Portrait of a faithful servant 20_Portrait of a faithful servant Gen 24:1-9 Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way. 2 Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household who was in charge of all that he owned, “Please place your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live; 4 but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. Jim Elliott was a young man when he, with his companions, attempted to reach out to the hostile Auca Indians in the jungle of Ecuador. Moved by distrust and fear, the Aucas massacred them all. Jim’s young wife Elizabeth was left alone. She passed through her own crucible of faith. With the weight of her loss pressing on her, and a 10-month-old baby to care for, she took time to ask the Lord what she should do. Amazingly, she felt led to continue the task that Jim had begun. She returned to the jungle and efforts continued to reach out to the Aucas. With her child, she eventually lived among them. Many of them came to know and trust God, including those who struck Jim down out of fear. Today, the Aucas live in the light of the gospel, a testimony to God’s forgiveness and power to transform, but also her faithfulness. Faithfulness is a hallmark of servanthood. Genesis 24 presents a vivid portrait of a true servant, the unnamed steward of Abraham. This picture is against the context of a journey to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. When Sarah passed away at 127, Abraham mourned deeply for his wife. Their bond, strengthened over nearly a century, had been filled with God’s promises, trials, and victories. Yet, as a man who trusted God’s purposes, Abraham rose from his grief to continue in the Lord’s will. His first act was to secure a burial place for Sarah,