Like Father, Like Son

"So Isaac lived in Gerar. When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, 'She is my sister,' for he was afraid to say, 'my wife,' thinking, 'the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.'" -Genesis 26.6-7

Another famine takes place, and Isaac is moving so his family will survive. His initial plan is to head to Egypt, but God tells him not to, and makes the promise to him that He made to Abraham. I will give you this land, I will multiply you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your descendants.

So Isaac goes to Gerar, to King Abimelech. And once there we find Isaac in the same situation as his father, he passes his wife off as his sister to save his own skin. The sin of the father has been picked up by the son, and we see him following in his footsteps in an aspect of life he'd have been better off without.

Men, our actions speak so much louder than our words. The things our children watch us do will speak so much louder than the lessons we try and teach them. I'm reminded of the country song, "I've Been Watching You." It begins with a four year old saying a four letter word, and the dad asking, "Where'd you learn to talk like that?" To which the son replies, "He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool. I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you and eat all my food and grow as tall as you are. We got cowboy boots and camo pants, yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad. I wanna do everything you do, so I've been watching you."

That's the reality of it, our children watch everything we do, and learn by what we do. And just as the negative traits we hate about ourselves are seen, the good ones can be as well. Verse two of the song goes like this.

We got back home and I went to the barn
I bowed my head and I prayed real hard
Said Lord please help me help my stupid self
Then this side of bedtime later that night
Turning on my son's Scooby Doo nightlight
He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees
He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands
And spoke to God like he was talking to a friend
And I said son now where'd you learn to pray like that

He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama's hand
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you

With God's help we can pass down the good traits and not the bad ones. Our children can watch us overcome the sins in our own life and see that it is possible to over come them and live righteously. They'll see their father do battle against evil and win. They'll see that his life is about something bigger than himself, and they'll want to be part of that as well. And you'll see like father, like son in a whole new light.

Which image are you going to pass down? What do you want your son to be like?

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

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor