This morning I was studying in Genesis chapter 26 when I was reminded of an important truth. After Abraham died, the Philistines filled up the wells he had dug in order to support all of his herds of livestock. Digging these wells was hard work, but it had to be done. As one commentator put it, “these wells were not a luxury, they were a necessity.” The wells had been a physical representation of God’s blessing of Abraham. But what about Isaac, the son of the promise, now that the wells have been filled?
In this chapter, God does not forget the promise He made to Isaac’s father, Abraham. In fact, God repeats the blessing He made to Abraham now to Isaac. The promises God made to his father had now become God’s promises to him (Genesis 26:3-5). What an incredible thing to inherit, the very blessing and favor of God! On the other hand, this was not the only thing Isaac inherited from his father. A few verses later we see Isaac lying to Abimelech about who Rebekah was; he claimed that she was his sister. Does this sound familiar? Yep, Abraham did the very same thing. This is a reminder to us parents that our children are watching everything we do. They see when we trust in the promises of God and they see when we choose to be disobedient. I don’t believe in generational curses, but I do believe we follow in the footsteps of our fathers and our children will follow in our pattern of sin. So what can we do to address this problem? We need to dig up the wells.
We need to dig up the wellsprings of faith our fathers (biological and spiritual) dug, not run after the sins they committed. We need to revisit those times and places when God poured out his blessing on His people and ask Him to do it again. Up until this chapter, we have read many times that “Abraham believed God,” but now it is Isaac’s turn. We will not survive on our father’s faith; it must become ours! Like Isaac, we will not become a blessing until we receive God’s blessing. This is what Isaac did; he dug up the wells and God blessed him beyond belief (Genesis 26:12-16). Also, Isaac did not rename the wells. Instead, he honored the names that his father had given them because now he saw how they were relevant to his current circumstances. Isaac even digs a new well (Genesis 26:32). He tapped into something not even his father had tapped. May this be true of us today. May we honor those who came before us and leave a legacy of faith for those to come.
The Real Zeal 