It Pays to Obey - An Oldie but a Goodie

It Pays to Obey

In Genesis 26:3, God tells Isaac to stay in Gerar, the land of the Philistines, instead of going to Egypt during the famine. As a matter of fact God warned him about going to Egypt. But as if it was not enough to tell him to do it for his own good, God goes a huge step further with this amazing promise: "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father."  God actually promised him riches for obeying.  But God does not stop there. He continues, "and I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all of the nations of the earth shall be blessed." Can you believe that? Well, I am so glad that Isaac was like his dad and believed God; otherwise, we'd all have a problem. It is so important to obey. You never know who or how much you might be helping.

Fast forward to Isaac saying that Rebekah was his sister to Abimelech's people. Remember his dad did the same thing.  Only Sarah really was Abraham's 1/2 sister. Rebekah was only Isaac's 2nd cousin.

The point I want to make here is summed up in verses 12-14, which says, "Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundred fold and the Lord blessed him, the man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks...and herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him."

It pays to obey!!!!