A Father's Love
[Abraham] sent her away.
GENESIS 21:14
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A Father's Love
Abraham was no ordinary Christian or confessor, if I may express myself in this way. No, he was a martyr of martyrs. For who is there who does not know how intense a father's affection toward his children and wife is? It is easier for a parent to suffer death than to forsake his own or to permit great harm to be done to them. But everything must yield to a command of God; and if you want to be a Christian, this is not a matter of wearing a black or gray garment. No, everything must be risked, not only wife and children but your own life. . .. This account is astonishing; but it is recorded about the saintly patriarch as an example for us, in order that we may learn that we should love and revere God above all things. Similarly, in chapter twelve Abraham is commanded to leave his country; and in Psalm 45:10 the Church which has been gathered from the Jews is told: "O daughter, forget your father's house." And Christ says (Matthew 10:37): "He who loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."
GENESIS 21:14
+
A Father's Love
Abraham was no ordinary Christian or confessor, if I may express myself in this way. No, he was a martyr of martyrs. For who is there who does not know how intense a father's affection toward his children and wife is? It is easier for a parent to suffer death than to forsake his own or to permit great harm to be done to them. But everything must yield to a command of God; and if you want to be a Christian, this is not a matter of wearing a black or gray garment. No, everything must be risked, not only wife and children but your own life. . .. This account is astonishing; but it is recorded about the saintly patriarch as an example for us, in order that we may learn that we should love and revere God above all things. Similarly, in chapter twelve Abraham is commanded to leave his country; and in Psalm 45:10 the Church which has been gathered from the Jews is told: "O daughter, forget your father's house." And Christ says (Matthew 10:37): "He who loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."
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