Echo… echo… echo…
Like father, like son, might be another way to put it.
We don’t get a whole lot about Isaac from the Genesis story, but what we do get, he certainly sounds like the son of his father.
His wife has trouble having a child. He prays. She conceives. Most importantly, he gets a visit from God in the beginning of chapter 26. And what God tells him sounds a whole lot like what God told his dad Abraham:
I will be with you
I will bless you
To you and your family I’ll give this land
I will multiply your family
Through our family all the nations of the earth will be blessed
because Abraham obeyed
Because Abraham obeyed.
Because Abraham obeyed, God re-ups his promise to Isaac. The baton has been passed. From father to son. From Abraham to Isaac. Isaac has a lot to live up to. What will happen now if Isaac obeys? Who all will that affect? What happens next?
And what about us? What if our obedience to God has direct consequences on other people—our friends, our family, our future spouse and kids and grandkids? What if our relationship with God is bigger than me-and-God? What happens then?
What about you? What do you see?
Fiftyeight 