A Taming of the Shrewd

A few years ago, during a week when I was preparing to preach Genesis 23, I found myself one day bartering for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. I wanted a half-caffeinated cup of coffee, but all they could give me was a half-caffeinated americano. Well…I was not about to pay that extra forty cents. So I started haggling. I asked if I could get an americano for the same price as a regular cup of coffee, and as I did this this text started rolling through my mind and it started piercing my heart, and the Holy Spirit started nudging me. And I began to ask myself, what is forty cents? Is my bartering right now rooted in a love of money? A covetousness? Is my behavior right now growing out of a little faith? Convicted, I said, “Nevermind.” And I paid the extra forty cents and enjoyed my americano. 

In Genesis 23, while trying to purchase a burial plot for his deceased wife, Sarah, we see that Abraham has no interest in bartering with Ephron the Hittite. For “Abraham,” writes H.C. Leupold, in his Exposition of Genesis, “is above such a thing as haggling or driving a shrewd bargain…” Such bargaining,” he continues, “is unworthy of a godly man at all times and is the outgrowth of an unseemly love of money. Under such circumstances Abraham would rather accept the offer, let Ephron take advantage of him and so demonstrate that he stands on higher ground than do his neighbors.”

Abraham understands where his true treasure lies, for his actions demonstrate where his heart lies. He demonstrates in Genesis 23, that his real treasure does not lie within the land. Not even in the land itself. His heart overflows in this words and deeds and from that fount we see that his heart as it says in Hebrews 11 is not set on things of earth, but on things above. 

What about you? Where’s your heart? I saw where my heart was when I started haggling over coffee. And I saw where my treasure lay–in my pocket and behind the counter in that silver carafe. Where do you see your heart today? And why action or words prove to you that your heart is still set on things of this earth. Take some time after this episode to ask the Lord, “Where is my heart?” And then pray for the grace to set it on things above where Christ is.

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