It had been years since they had seen each other. They were to meet again, but he couldn’t know. Her plan was pretty good—as long as she stayed in disguise. Covered with a veil and wearing different clothes, she sat at the side of the road, waiting. As rumoured, he arrived soon afterwards. Believing she was just there to receive male guests, he approached her. Judah propositioned his daughter-in-law, Tamar, making a significant dent in history.
I always wondered how Tamar managed to slip by Judah undetected. I mean, if I’d lost two of my children to the same spouse, I’d have been highly suspicious of her. I’d keep track of her, her face a target forever etched in my mind. Two points jumped out at me during this story.
First, Judah wasn’t expecting Tamar, so he wasn’t expecting to meet her. We tend to drop our guard at times when we feel safe. He knew Tamar was at home with her family, awaiting the word to marry the next son. Being lonely and missing the physical intimacy from his marriage, he felt okay to proposition a foreign woman in a foreign town to fulfill his desires.
Lastly, how was Tamar able to change herself so completely that she was unrecognizable? She went from respectable widow to a woman of questionable reputation within a moment.
Do I do the same?
I claim to be a Christian; a follower of Christ. One who tries to follow the standards and guidelines He has laid out in His Word. Are there times when I quickly disguise myself, veiling my spirituality in order to accomplish my goals? Do I have moments when I’m completely unrecognizable amongst my family and my friends?
Lord, please help me to be one person at all times. Take my goals and adjust them to match with Your purpose for my life.
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It’s Friday! You know what that means—you can join Kate and her five-minute Friday community here.
And umm…seriously, this story from Genesis 38 was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the prompt of ‘meet’. This business of following Christ is never dull…