Poor Abraham, his laughing wife Sarah died in this chapter at age 127. Abraham mourned and wept over her. When there is pain like that, there is love. He then rose from beside his wife's dead body and made inquiries to find a burial place. The people in Hebron (the Hittites) wanted to give him the land and cave to bury her in. "Bury your dead," they repeated. Abraham refused, insisting on paying the going rate for the plot, which was 400 shekels of silver.
This reminds me of righteous people not being stingy or cheap. Take, for example, the friend out at a restaurant with his/her Christian friends after a church service. When the large table gets its check, sometimes people will mince and squeeze trying to figure out exactly what they owe. That's fine -- especially if they tip good (Christians need to tip generously, so as to erase the reputation of being cheap, low tippers) -- but my hero is that person who ate a little of ten dollars worth of food but throws down a twenty to cover any disputes or short-changes around the table. And he or she doesn't expect a round of applause or a band to play after doing this.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at January 10, 2007 12:08 PM