Hills to Die On

"Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “'water is ours!' So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, 'At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.'" -Genesis 26.18-22

God has blessed Isaac and he has become very wealthy in the land, and so King Abimelech asks him to leave, so Isaac moves to the valley of Gerar, and re-digs the wells that his father had dug. But the herdsmen quarrel with him and say that the land is theirs. We see now the issues that Abraham avoided by having the field and tomb deeded over to him. But there is a quarrel, so he moves on and digs another well. Again there is a quarrel, and so again he moves. Digs the third well, and finally finds no quarrel.

We see an important principle here, what hills are you willing to die on? It's an important question for us to ask, because there are places we have to take a firm stand, and if required, die instead of move. But there are other things that it would be a waste of a life, or many lives, to die for.

Men died at Normandy, Thermopylae, the Alamo, Golgotha, because those were hills worth dying on. They knew what would happen if they didn't make a stand, and they refused to sit by and let it go down without a fight. But a well in a land that God had already promised to his descendants wasn't worth his life. One day it would be theirs, and Isaac was willing to wait, he wasn't willing to die here. God had been with him, and made him very wealthy. He had blessed him just as He had promised. And so Isaac was willing to wait.

Men, what are the hills you're willing to die on, and what are the things you just need to let go? Ask yourself, "Is this Normandy or a well?" You can dig another well somewhere else, but you only have one shot at Normandy. What hills are you willing to die on? Stand firm, and let God handle the rest. He won't forget the promises He's made, and He doesn't want you to foolishly waste your life on something small and insignificant.

What is worth dying for? What do you need to let go of?

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor