Gen 18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.

   

The great trees of Mamre were a well known ‘local feature' and it happens that that was where Abraham set up his tents. It is early afternoon, the heat of the day, and he's no doubt sitting in the shade of the main tent's entrance. Suddenly three men appear. Now we are subsequently led to believe that two of them were angels (see 19:1) and it would seem that the third was a human form of the Lord Himself without His glory.

 

Now let's not look at what follows. Let's just take what we have here. The Lord comes to Abraham. Note Abraham is not out looking for the Lord. There is a strong lesson here. The Lord has plans and purposes for our lives and He is more active in bringing them about than we are. He is the one who so often takes the initiative.

 

Note something else that is quite significant in the light of the world religions' propensity to want us to do religious or spiritual things to be able to somehow make contact with God who otherwise is unapproachable, as they see it. God comes to Abraham without any fanfare and certainly without Abraham doing anything to win His favour. Abraham is just relaxing at home. This speaks of a personal God who comes to us and who doesn't need appeasing (because He's already sorted it!) and who obviously enjoys people – which includes you! Rejoice in God's love for you that sent His Son so you could have a relationship with Him.