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Bible Study: Nov. 29, 2015

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NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.

This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Explore the Bible curriculum.

Bible Passage: Genesis 24:1-17

Discussion Questions: Which do you think is more important: doing the task well or completing the task on time? What factors determine if you are a success in your work?

Food for Thought:

When most of us get a job assignment, we begin to work through a set of questions in our minds. We will want to know deadlines, who else is involved and when we can start on the assignment. We will want to know how success will be defined. Does success mean we completed the task or that we did it the way the person assigning it would do it? We will probably want to know about the resources available to us for completing the task. We may also wonder who we can call on for assistance if needed.

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Enter Abraham’s servant. We are not told his name when the assignment was given, but we are told his assignment. Isaac was now in his thirties and unmarried. Abraham wanted Isaac to marry a woman not influenced by the pagan worship that dominated Canaan at the time. He called on his senior servant to go to Haran, Abraham’s family home, to find a wife for Isaac. The servant had a variety of questions, including what would happen if the woman he selected refused. The servant made his way to Haran, praying for God to direct him as he went (Genesis 24:10-14). God would answer the prayers of the servant when he met Rebekah at a well.

Fast forward to today. We receive assignments all the time at work. We may not be asked to find a wife for our boss’s son, but just showing up implies that we have a task to complete. We know what is expected and how to complete the task in general. The task may be mundane and tedious, requiring the simple execution of a set of actions. But what if we approached that simple task with prayer? What would happen if we asked God to show us how to complete our assigned task? How differently would we approach and attack that task? What if we saw the completion of a task as an answer to prayer? Abraham’s servant asked God to help him, and he found the perfect wife for Isaac. Imagine what God might do through us if we begin to include prayer as the first step towards completing every task we are assigned in our work.

Explore the Bible

Explore the Bible is an ongoing Bible study curriculum that helps groups dig into the key truths of each Bible book, while keeping the group on pace to study through the Bible books in a systematic way. More information can be found at LifeWay.com/ExploreTheBible [3].

Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool [4].