Get Rid of Your Ishmael

Abraham, the father of our faith, was a godly man but he also made mistakes! One of those mistakes came when God told him that he and his wife Sarah would become parents of a child. The promised child seemed like an impossibility so Sarah set about trying to “make it happen”. Of course, WE would never do anything like that! To make a long story short, Sarah convinces Abraham that he needs to sleep with her servant, Hagar. Bad idea right from the start! Hagar has a son named Ishmael and later Sarah has a son named Isaac. Now there are two boys growing up in one household: Ishmael, the son of the flesh and Isaac, the son of the spirit (the promise of God). The flesh will always rise up against the spirit and that’s exactly what happened with Isaac and Ishmael. They were constantly fighting. Sarah has had it and gives Abraham an ultimatum: Genesis 21:10…”Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!” Now Abraham loved both of his boys. Genesis 21:12… But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant.” God was going to the heart of the matter. Abraham has formed a soul tie (mind, will and emotions with BOTH Hagar and Ishmael). So God tells him in Genesis 21:12b…”Do whatever Sarah tells you!” Do you know that when you bring something into your life that should never have been brought in, God will tell YOU to get rid of it? Too many of us have formed a soul tie with a habit, an attitude, our past, a relationship. It’s something we know isn’t right, but we don’t want to do anything about it. We are emotionally attached. So our spirit man and fleshly man are battling within. That’ why we can sing the victory on Sunday and go back to old habits and sins on Monday. We’re bring up an Ishmael and an Isaac inside of us! Do you have an Ishmael in your life that you need to push out the door?! Think about it.