Isaac

The LORD appeared to [Isaac] and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws” . . . Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 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 the sake of My servant Abraham.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.  (Genesis 26:2-5, 23-25, NASB)

God appeared to Isaac twice in Chapter 26 of Genesis, with much the same message:  “I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”  

Why was God so gracious to Isaac?  “Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”  God didn’t show favor to Isaac because of anything HE did, but it was because of what his father Abraham did.  God reiterated the Abrahamic Covenant upon Isaac because his father Abraham was righteous in God’s eyes. 

Reading this reminded me of myself.  You see, God has shown me favor in my own life.  It’s not because of anything I’VE done, but because of what Jesus did.  Jesus, God’s Son, came to this earth as God’s plan of salvation.  He died as a substitute for me, to take the punishment I deserve for my sins.  Nothing I could ever do would be acceptable to God to make up for my sins, EXCEPT–to place my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus is my Hope for this life and the next!