Audio Messages:
Pastor Wade Burleson

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A Full Life Is not Problem Free

Genesis86.mp3 (13.8 MB)

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Genesis 25:1-10 (KJV)

1. Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
2. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
3. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
4. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
5. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.
6. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
7. And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.
8. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
9. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;
10. The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

When the eulogy for Abraham is given in verse 8, the Bible says he died, "an old man, and full of years." This is a redundant phrase in English, but not in the original Hebrew. The original states he died an old man "and full" -- as he lived a "full" or "blessed" life. That is something that I would like to be said of me when I die -- he died "full." This means to die in a "satisfied state," both emotionally and spiritually. Is it possible for you?

1. A full life is not necessarily an ideal life.
   Back in the 1950's Leave It To Beaver was Ward and June Cleaver and two kids. The star of the show was Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver. We watched the trouble he would get himself into while navigating through an often incomprehensible, and sometimes illogical, world. The Cleaver world of perfect idealism is not the real world. In fact, in 1983 CBS mad a movie called Still the Beaver, using all the same stars, and showed the Beaver as an adult, divorced, and struggling with a loss of idealism. Abraham is a picture of someone who lived a full life, but when you examine his life you find two wives, concubines, broken family relationships and total dysfunction.
2. A full life is not necessarily an intended life.
   Abraham is given supernatural ability to have Isaac but fathers more children as well. Keturah bears to him six other sons -- and some of the descendants of these boys end up making alliances with Ishamel's descendants and become the enemies of Israel. "Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers intensifies, but never destroys it," (Elizabeth Tabor). Embrace disappointment, because sometimes the unintended things that happen in life become the blessing.
3. A full life is not necessarily an illustrious life.
   Abraham is not a king. He is not a military general. He is not a monarch or a prince. Abraham is a shepherd. Sure, you know about him because he is in Scripture, but we must never forget that he is a simple shepherd who lived a "full" life because of God.
4. A full life is an exchanged life.
   "Exchanged Life" is a term coined by Howard Taylor to describe the life-changing realization that occurred in his father, famed missionary to China, Hudson Taylor. Taylor strove to do his best for the Lord he was serving. His greatest desire was to be an imitator of Christ. To achieve his goal, he studied the Bible more fervently, prayed continually and fasted often. His life became an endless effort to please God; not to know Him. In a moment of divine insight, Hudson Taylor suddenly understood "I am the vine, you are the branches" (John 15:5) is a statement that Christ not only provides nourishment to us, but is Himself everything to us. It is in knowing Him that we find our strength. When Paul writes of the essence of faith he uses Abraham as an illustration. "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3). Christ is my righteousness. Christ is my goodness. Christ is my forgiveness. Christ is my hope. "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).

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