# 128 When Technology Races Ahead

The Book of Genesis Day 128 Ge 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. This “surrogate” motherhood thing has been around for a long time. Archaeologists have found that this was one of the preferred methods to produce a male heir in Assyrian marriage contracts. If a wife was barren, then the husband would try to have children by a maidservant. It was part of their culture, it was the way they did things. Why shouldn’t Abram and Sarai jump on the bandwagon, I mean, everyone else was doing it! (Where have we heard that before?) It’s an age old problem isn’t it? God’s people trying to live in a culture without adopting all its customs and ways. It’s trying to be “in the world, but not of the world!” Francis Schaeffer once said, “ Tell me what the world is saying today, and I’ll tell you what the church will be saying in seven years.” Unfortunately this is pretty much spot on. But 2Co 6:17 says, "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you." God’s plan for Abram’s family did not include having children through surrogate parenthood, yet they succumbed to the pressure of the world and did it the “world’s way” and paid the price. What seemed like a good idea at first, resulted in an awful lot of personal pain for all the parties involved. Sarai became hated in Hagar’s eyes, flaunting her ability to have children in the barren Sarai’s face! Abram gets caught between two feuding women whom he knew intimately! He eventually has to cast out his surrogate son and maidservant from the family, and the ramifications of this “casting out” are still being felt in our world today! We face the same kind of pressures today. We live in a world where technological advances seemingly race ahead of the Word of God. It’s easy for us to get caught up in doing things the world’s way rather than God’s way. Yes scientists are doing amazing things…..but are they moral? Are they within the guidelines of God’s Word. We’re not talking about “flat earth” things here, we are talking about crossing the lines of biblical morality! All the more reason for us to be spending time in God’s Word. No matter the source of peer pressure, always take the time to run the ways of the world through the filter of God’s Word. See how the world’s way stacks up against God’s way. Then save yourself some pain and do it God’s way. Pray, Father, sometimes these scientific gains come at us at the speed of light! Help us to slow down and not get ahead of what Your word says about how we should live in accordance with Your will!