Genesis 26:24 (NIV) That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

Abraham is known as the father of our faith. The Bible tells us that the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him to leave everything he ever knew, including his country and his relatives and to go to a land that He was going to show him. Without knowing where he was going and without any other information, we read in the Book of Genesis that Abraham believed what God told him. He didn’t just believe it in his head. He believed it with his feet as well, because he took action and left just like God told him to. When he got to the land that God intended to give to him and to his descendants, he wandered around at the Lord’s direction without taking ownership of it. But Abraham never questioned, he never wavered and he never disobeyed. His faith and obedience were an example to his generation and to every generation after him.

After Abraham died, his son Isaac was left in the land of the promise to follow in his father’s footsteps. According to what the Lord had promised to Abraham, it was through Isaac that He was going to bring about a people that would be His own. They would be a chosen people belonging to God. I can imagine Isaac trying to walk in his father’s shoes, which must have seemed like an impossible task. He had seen his faither’s faithfulness to the Lord firsthand, most significantly when Abraham was going to sacrifice him at God’s command. As we now know, the Lord did not allow that to happen, but Abraham was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to obey God. You can only imagine what Isaac was thinking through all of that. But he did learn about the tremendous blessing that it is to trust God. Somewhere along his journey after Abraham died, the Lord appeared to Isaac as He had appeared to Abraham. God repeated to Isaac the promise that He had made to His father, but we should take note of the reason why the Lord said that He would bless Isaac. It was for the sake of Abraham that He was going to be with Isaac and was going to bless Him. It was because of how his father had honored God that he was reaping the benefit of God’s amazing favor.

Have you ever given thought to your life beyond yourself? Have you given thought to your children and the people who are close to you in regards to your faith in Jesus? Did you know that if you remain faithful to Jesus, the Bible says that God will bless your children and your children’s children and even beyond that (Deuteronomy 7:9)? He will do it for your sake. Besides your family, all who are in your circle of friends and acquaintances will be blessed as well if you remain faithful to Jesus. In Acts chapter 27, we read about the time that the Apostle Paul was on a ship with 276 men, including prisoners and crew members. They faced a fierce hurricane that lasted fourteen days. All hope seemed to be lost but the Lord sent an angel to speak to Paul to tell him that God was going to save his life and that He would graciously save the lives of all the men that were with him as well! The only reason that they were spared was because of Paul’s relationship with Jesus. He remained faithful and everyone was saved for his sake. Let’s be like Abraham and remain obedient and faithful to Jesus so that everyone around us will be blessed...for our sake!

Pastor Joey Vazquez