This morning I (again) read the account of Isaac in Genesis 26. Isaac was afraid that ungodly people in Gerar would see Rebekah's beauty, take her for a wife, and kill him. So he lied and told everyone she was his sister. As with most lies, he was found out, but in this case he was found out before there was much collateral damage from the lie (see Genesis 26:6-11).
We shouldn't be surprised by this crazy idea Isaac had. Although he was not yet born when it happened, we have two recorded times when his father Abraham did the same thing (see Genesis 12:10-20 and Genesis 20:1-18). In Abraham's situations, the lies brought greater harm, though still God protected Sarah from being violated or harmed in any way. Abraham's lie was at least half true (see Genesis 20:12)--Sarah was his half-sister. But what he told was still a lie, bringing difficult consequences for him as well as for those who tried (in innocence) to take Sarah for their own.
When I ponder these three accounts, I remember again the danger of a lie. But that is not what hits me most today. The questions now on my mind are these: Why didn't Abraham teach Isaac about the lesson he learned so Isaac wouldn't make the same mistake? Or what was it in Isaac that caused him to want to follow in Abraham's footsteps in unrighteous decisions rather than righteous decisions (at least, in that instance)? We don't know, maybe Abraham did tell Isaac about the mistakes he made and warned him not to repeat them, and Isaac still stumbled into the same sin. Personally, I wish we knew more about these situations so we could learn from them, but the Lord didn't include every detail in His Word, though He gave us exactly what we need to know.
Today as a father, I think often about the things I have brought into my life from my parents, as well as the things my children will take from me. I have great parents, who raised me to love and serve the Lord, but I still made some enormous and painful mistakes of my own through the years. And now I pray daily for my own kids, but realize they, too, will sometimes perpetuate my mistakes rather than the things I most want them to gain from me. I wish for them to follow only my good examples, but inevitably they will make their share of mistakes in life.
Each of us has a challenge to break free from the mistakes of our parents (mine weren't perfect either (sorry Mom and Dad!)), and pursue the righteous life that our loving Lord has called us to. And although we will not be perfect parents, we want to let our kids see our God-honoring lives in hopes they will learn more good than bad from us. Sin is a horrible master, and we are all slaves to sin until we find the grace of God, then we continue to struggle with sin the rest of our lives. Hebrews 12:1-2 encourages us to "throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and...run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Yes, the sin hinders and entangles us, but we--with the strength that Jesus gives us--work to cast it aside and pursue the things that most please the Lord.
In this we will find great freedom and joy.
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