Shavua Tov! This coming week's Torah portion is Chayei Sarah, which means "Sarah's life."

This week's Torah portion is filled with gems, so I hardly know where to start. First, we see the deep love that Abraham and Isaac had for their wife and mother. We also see the wonderful story of provision and guidance as Abraham's servant finds a wife for Isaac.

But the Haftarah portion brings out something I never really gave much thought to before. Abraham purchased a piece of real estate in Canaan because he had faith that his descendants would one day inherit all of the land.

He knew he was getting old. He knew he wouldn't see all of YHWH's promises fulfilled first hand.

Yet he acted in faith, purchasing a burial place for Sarah. In those times, you only buried your loved ones in your ancestral homeland. In other words, he was proclaiming to everyone that his homeland was no longer in the East, where his father and brothers lived.

No, his "homeland" was in the Promised Land!

Most of us live outside the land of Israel, too. We get pretty settled here in our countries, and we get wrapped up in politics, in worries for the future, and in patriotism. Yet when we placed our faith in Yeshua, we became citizens of Israel and children of Abraham.

How can we act in faith toward our promised futures? Even if we might not live long enough to see the promises fulfilled (and yet I hope we do!), how can we encourage our children to live as "strangers and exiles" of their current homes and as "heirs of the promise"?

A link you may enjoy:
https://exodustoisrael.com/the-jerusalem-debate/