Abraham moved in accordance with God's economy (vv. 3-8). What he did in obtaining a wife for Isaac was for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose. We long to see that all the marriages in the churches will be for the fulfillment of God's purpose. This kind of marriage requires a daily living in oneness with God. Young brothers, if everything you do is in accordance with God's economy, even your marriage will be the carrying out of His economy. You need to say, "Lord, what I am doing here today must be in accordance with Your economy. I am single now, but one day I will be married. May my marriage be for Your economy." This is the main revelation in Genesis 24. The primary thing in this chapter is not that Isaac is a type of Christ as the Bridegroom and that Rebekah is a type of the church as the bride. I say again that the primary thing revealed here is the practical living in accordance with God's economy for the carrying out of His eternal purpose. We need a life which resembles that of Abraham. His motive, action, and everything he did were in accordance with God's economy.
I doubt that Abraham was as clear about God's economy as we are today. Nevertheless, he told his servant that God had called him, had promised to give the land to his seed, and that the servant had to go to his country to find a wife for Isaac. In the light of the whole Bible, we can see that this was the carrying out of God's economy. How we need such a life today! Our motive, action, and all we do must be the carrying out of God's economy. This does not simply require that we know God's will and then do certain things. No, we need a daily living that is in oneness with God. We must be this kind of person. If we are such a person, whatever we say will be God's expression, and whatever we do will be for the fulfillment of His purpose. This is the life that we need for the church life today. Do not say, "Oh, I don't know the Lord's will concerning my marriage or my schooling. I must fast and pray for three days and nights." Let me tell you honestly that although I tried this for years, it never worked very well.
Consider the example of Abraham, the first of God's called ones. Since he was the first called one, we see in his case the principle of the first mention. Abraham did not act in today's traditional, religious way, fasting and praying to seek the Lord's will. He did not suddenly have a dream in which he saw Rebekah in the land of Chaldea waiting for Abraham's servant. As verse 40 indicates, Abraham walked before the Lord. As a person walking in the presence of the Lord, he did not need to fast or pray in order to know God's will. Since he walked in the Lord's presence, whatever he did was God's will and according to God's economy.