Mar 24, 2024 "Blessed Life" (Genesis 26:14-30)

• Blessed Life

  Genesis 26: 14-30

   

  Isaac was a blessed man. God blessed him not because he was a good man, but because of God's promise to Abraham.

   

  Galatians 3:14 ESV

  [14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

   

  We are truly blessed like Isaac.

   

  Isaac fully knew he was blessed by God.

   

  Genesis 26:14-15 ESV

  [14] He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. [15] (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)

   

  The Philistines don't steal water from Isaac but fill up the wells so he cannot use them. The Philistines saw Isaac as a threat and drove him away. Actually, Isaac was so powerful that he could have fought the Philistines. Instead, he moved onto another place to avoid violence.

   

   

  Genesis 26:17-18 ESV

  [17] So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

  [18] And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them.

   

  Isaac did not care about the wells but kept his focus on God. Isaac knew that God blessed Abraham and knew God would also bless him.

   

  We need to remember who we are in God through Christ's sacrifice. We have a blessed status.

   

  Isaac was a person who never gave up. Even after the Philistines filled up several wells at different times, Isaac kept digging wells until he found a place where he could settle. Many heroes in the Bible had to wait a long time before God kept His promise. They had to endure much suffering and wait for God to fulfill His promise. They did endure and witnessed God's goodness.

   

  We often struggle with problems and don't see any solutions. Our faith is tested and we may question if we should continue. Yet, if we keep our faith, God will be faithful.

   

  Genesis 26:26-28 ESV

  [26] When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army,

  [27] Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

  [28] They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,

   

  Here we see God working. The Philistines realize that God is truly blessing Isaac. Isaac accepts their offer of peace even though the Philistines were the ones who were in the wrong. It was Isaac's actions that allowed the Philistines to see God at work. Isaac was honest and hard working and sought peace.

   

  We, too, need to be like Isaac and seek God 

  Stronger Good Grace Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me