Dearly beloved in Christ,
I greet you in the sweet name of Jesus Christ.
Isaac was blessed of the Lord. Let us meditate through the Bible how to attain this blessed state in our lives.
To reach a high state in life, man takes every effort using his talents and skills, his authority and status, his caste and influence among men. Some strive on the basis of their education, culture, and attainments in literature, sports, histrionics or music to attain fame and name. For this sake they are willing to sacrifice their family, children, chastity, or anything in life. They are the ones whose spiritual eyes have been blinded. In my college days I had a friend who wanted to become a great footballer. He would not come to classes. This desire paralysed his life. He could not do anything else in life. He was obsessed with one thing. Such people rarely gain the recognition of people. They fail in their goals and remain unreconciled to the real situation. They are unrealistic and their state is miserable in the end. We have seen such people everywhere.
But Isaac was different as he progressed and prospered in all that he did. He continued prospering to attract the attention of everyone around him. For this prosperity in his life, the reason is his good qualities.
Reasons for Isaac’s Prosperity
1. Obedience
“Then the Lord appeared to him and said: ”Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 26:2)
Isaac obeyed the word of the Lord and he did not go to Egypt but remained in Gerar. The Lord does not want anyone to go to the place of sin which entraps and enslaves. Egypt is a place of transient pleasures and sins. Jesus Christ warns against going and dwelling in such a place. But the heart which is full of deceit and evil will not listen to the call of the Lord. Seeking exaltation, authority, selfish ambition, and projection, in the name of political parties, religion, and caste, people lose themselves in exploitation and lose sanctity and purity in their lives and spoil themselves and submit themselves to savage nature. Some seek cheap popularity among employees by hosting banquets and supplying delectable food and beverages. They have hidden agenda in what they do.
Dear Brother/ Sister, was wealth given to you only for this? Why did God give you a good house, good parents, good family, good employment and business? God has placed you in this position because of the covenant He made with your forefathers for their good god-fearing life and holiness. Forgetting this, if you think that your own strength, wisdom, and accomplishments have made you great and choose to disregard the Word of God and His statutes, you are cheating yourself. You will not be able to stand the test and trials in case you have made it yourself. Today listen to the word of the Lord God, make it important to follow it, and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ and commit to live a godly life in Christ with the new decision. The Lord who blessed Isaac will bless you also and make you great.
If you think that you are holy and feel comfortable with your life leaving Jerusalem, a place that indicates a life of sanctity where the Lord dwells, you are going towards Jericho that symbolizes a wretched place cursed by Joshua. You yield your life to the devil, the thief, to be stripped naked with your robe of salvation taken away and your body to be bruised and the thief robs you of your possessions and liberty. You will be left half dead with no help. This is true of many a person’s life.
I know of a senior student who studied in our college during my college days. He worked hard and used his skills and ability to attain great levels in the game of football. He was highly disciplined and by practice rose to high levels. He was chosen to represent India in international matches. His mother prayed for his salvation and for him to live abiding in the Word of the Lord. She also counselled him to give up sin. But he continued to disregard the Word of God, and sin enslaved him. He was cast out from high pedestal. He lost his supporters and fans. He was destined to live in disdain. The whole family was put to shame.
In the case of another man who won a lottery, he was given a large amount of money in lakhs of rupees. He took efforts now to exalt his status of life. He left his family and place. He married another woman. To make a new life, he wanted to end his former family ties. According to the advice of his new wife, he killed his first wife and children. The law took him to prison. The new wife took all his money and belongings and vanished. His effort to exalt himself ended in misery and desertion. There is no such short cut to success.
But when you listen to the Word of the Lord, His hand will exalt you, and in this exaltation, there will not be any misery. Today let us decide to listen to the Word of God and abide in it. We will be exalted day by day in every way and be blessed.
2. Heritage of Abraham
“And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, ”I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” (Genesis 26:24).
Yes, Isaac was blessed because of his father Abraham, who was a friend of the Lord God as he lived pleasing the Lord all through his life. The blessings of parents descend on the succeeding generations, up to the third and fourth generations. By the way we live, our children will be blessed and exalted.
King David saw Bathsheba while she was bathing, was ensnared by her beauty, and took her as his wife killing her husband. He thought that the deed was not known to anyone. But it was not hidden from God, who struck the child born of this illicit relationship and it died. Curse came upon his descendants: “Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife” (2 Sam. 12:10). Similarly, Gehazi, without the knowledge of his master, lied to Naaman and got wealth and dress from him after he was healed. But he received the curse of leprosy upon his descendants: “Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow” (2 Kings 5:27).
Dear Brother/ sister, let not the children and their descendants be cursed or suffer because of your reckless life. Let us walk in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ as He has said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Let us be holy unto the Lord. Let us be models for them, walking in His ways and pleasing Him all the time. Surely, our children will be blessed.
In the days I lived as a sinner, my father and my mother would compel me to attend the church on Sundays as it is the Lord’s Day. As a result, I have been blessed in a number of ways.
Once my father’s father Rev. V. Devavaram was sick. My father, Rev. V.D. Christian Paul asked my grandfather why he should go to church when he was so ill. He replied, “If it is said that Rs. 100 would be given to those who come, will we not go to church? But greater blessings would be given. We should not let it go.” I can never forget what he said. The parents should be a model for children in reading the Bible, praying, and taking part in worship. For worldly blessings we spend money and time. If our child is weak in studies, we give them tuition. More important than to achieve success is to live a godly and holy life. Blessings and mercy would follow to a thousand generations.
A servant of God was invited to pray in one’s friend’s house. In that family, all were in tears. When enquired they said that their daughter eloped away. They requested him to pray. He prayed for them. That night that servant of God prayed again humbling himself before God. The Lord revealed to him in a vision that her father in his youth had done the same thing with a young girl. He was shocked and he interceded for him. The Lord God had compassion and had mercy on them. The way you measure unto others will be used against you as well. Therefore, dear Brother, what you do in your youth in your lust to others will boomerang one day. So do not yield to evil ways. In your family the same thing will happen to your children and you will see with your own eyes. You will be subjected to a pitiable state.
Hence, for our descendants to be blessed with exaltation and peace, and to be protected from destruction, let us commit to live a holy life, pleasing and fearing the Lord. Surely, our children will be blessed abundantly and exalted and multiplied.
3. Praying for His Wife
“Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” (Gen. 25:21)
He was not disheartened by the fact that his wife had defects. He did not find fault with anyone. He did not speak about the defect with anyone. Instead, he pleads with the Lord who can set right things. There are defects even in marriages arranged by parents.
There are families where the husband and the wife blame each other or their parents in imposing the other on them. They lose their patience and peace and indulge in mudslinging on the other. Each apportions the blame on the other. Some send their wives back home and demand money from them.
Dear Brother/ Sister, no one is without defects. No one is perfect. Do not be disheartened by the defects. There is One who can set right things. He is Jesus Christ. Let us confess and plead for remedy. Let us be delivered.
According to the Bible, we have no right to blame others. As you do the same thing you accuse others of, you are blaming yourself. Whoever the person be. Let him be your superior in your workplace, your master, those who work under you, a servant of God, or members of a congregation, your children or spouse, or your in-laws, brothers or sister, that does not matter. Do not fret about the misdeeds of others. Do not speak about it with others who are not related to it in any way. But pray to the Lord in tears to the Lord for remedy, redressal and reparation. Let us remove the log on our eyes before we seek the removal of a mote from others’. We should not be accusers. Satan is termed the accuser. Rev. 12:10 says: “. . . for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” This should not be our condition.
Once a servant of God prayed for a young man. He was an intelligent person. He had good wisdom to come first in school. He had also good gifts of the Spirit. But he did not write the public examination that year and ran away somewhere. It was the result of an evil force that overpowered him. When the servant of God began to pray for him, the devil manifested in the form of a dead spirit of woman who lived nearby and committed suicide. The servant inquired how it came into him. It revealed that he was accusing all servants of God. Because he was proud, it came into him.
We may have spiritual gifts. But if we only accuse and blame others, we will be cast down. Let us not forget this. As King David has said, we should dwell in holy exalted places. Then we should not speak ill of others: “He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend” (Psalm 15:3). Pray for those who speak ill of you, as Jesus Christ has counselled us. How long and how much we relish in speaking ill of the defects and misdeeds of others! Have you ever prayed for them? How long do you pray? For whom do you pray? Let us pray like Job for others, and for friends, for the defects to be set right. Let us pray and fast with burden in our hearts with tears. Our Lord will hear our prayers and will do away with the defects of others. We will also be blessed like Job.
4. Resilience with Others
“And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” (Genesis 26:22)
Isaac continued to dug the wells of his father Abraham, which were closed by the Philistines. But the people of the place came and quarrelled with them saying that they belonged to them only. They quarrelled each time he dug a new one. The shepherds of the place quarrelled with them.
These incidents show the tolerance and patience on the part of Isaac. He yielded to their demands. Isaac did not quarrel with them. He knew their unjust demands and lust and their ignorance. Yet, he did not want to stand in the way of sinners. He left the place. We should also, as God’s children, avoid quarrels and arguments with others. The Lord will continue to bless the labour of our hands.
If you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, you should also exhibit this quality of putting up with such people. Do not resist. In some families in the apportioning of wealth there is calamity and hatred. It leads to lack of love between brothers and sisters. There is rivalry and jealousy at work that knows no boundaries. Families have been destroyed. We must have the quality of forgiveness in us. It is the quality of Christ. If Christ dwells in you, you will be like Him spiritually. Jesus Christ went about doing good. But those who benefited out of him were jealous of Him. They had the love of power. They were the reason for His crucifixion. On the cross, He pleaded with the Father to forgive them. The all-powerful God submitted for the fulfilment of the will of the Father to be sacrificed on the cross as propitiation for our sins. He bore our weaknesses and afflictions and sufferings on the cross. If we also pursue His path, the Lord will bless us.
Once two colleagues were seeking a house for rent. As they desired, a convenient house was available on low rent. One of them was willing to let it to the other. In a few days, another house was available for him for rent. Not only that, the Lord enabled him to buy that house for his own possession at a low price. Let us also not be dismayed by the wildly prevalent hatred and competition in this world. Let us reflect the image of Christ in our dealings. The Lord will bless us as He blessed Isaac with the spring of abundance, love, peace and joy and help us to have a place, ‘rehoboth’, to multiply.
5. Lord with Him
“But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you.” (Genesis 26:28)
Yes, Brother/ Sister, if the Lord God is with us, we are blessed people. If He should be with us, we must put an end to sin in our lives. We should be cleansed with the blood of Jesus Christ. We should believe that He shed His blood for our sake and confess our sins and give them up. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). When we are pure in our heart, God will dwell with us.
Do not think that you are a sinner and that there is no way to become pure. The blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us of all sins. His blood was shed only to redeem us from our sinful nature. Believe it and confess your sins to Jesus Christ. He will not forsake any sinner. After confessing, give up your sins. Decide in your heart to live holy. Then the Lord God will help you to lead a righteous life. He will teach you and lead you in all affairs. He will exalt you. “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18). He will dwell with you.
The Lord God is standing and knocking at the door. If you listen to His voice, and come out of sinful life, giving up the evil and wicked ways, God will enter your life and dwell with you. He will certainly bless you.
He has assured us that He would not leave us forsaken. According to His words, for Him to dwell in us, the only obstacle is sin. If only you desire deliverance from sin, only receive Jesus Christ into your life. Accept the blood shed by Him for your sinful life. Open your heart and invite Him into your life. You will become His temple and He will dwell in you and sanctify you.
Certainly, the Lord will bless you in every way and make you rich. You will prosper continuously and become great.
May the Lord bless us so!
In the service of Jesus Christ,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.