The Book of Genesis
Day 242
Ge 26:13 The man
began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14
for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of
servants. So the Philistines envied him. 15 Now the Philistines had stopped up
all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his
father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac,
"Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we." 17 Then Isaac
departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt
there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days
of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death
of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. 19
Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water
there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying,
"The water is ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because
they quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over
that one also. So he called its name Sitnah.
The Lord blessed
Isaac and he was doing very well in the land of the Philistines. And the
Philistines were very jealous of him. So jealous that they wanted him out of
their territory, and the way they sought to move him out was to keep filling
the wells that Isaac needed for his family and his livestock.
It’s interesting
that we read of no act of retaliation on Isaac’s part. I mean, I think I might
be more than a little miffed about this tampering with my water, how about you?
Even as Isaac
began to withdraw, he finds that the Philistines have filled up the wells that
his father had dug. The message is clear, “You are not welcome here.”This is the
message followers of Christ will run into in varying degrees of intensity as
they seek to live Spirit filled (read that water-filled) lives. The Holy Spirit
referred to “living water” in God’s Word. Joh 7:38 "He who believes in Me,
as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water." 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing
in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was
not yet glorified.
The mere presence
of a believer in the midst of unbelievers can create this kind of animosity. I
remember my days working at a secular radio station. After my conversion to
Christ, I would end my radio show every day by simply saying. “God bless you.”
This irritated a listener who wrote the station and complained about my
“constant preaching” on the air waves.
(She was in a sense trying to stop up my well.)
R. C. Sproul writing in his
Christian classic, (The
Holiness of God) tells about
a leading professional golfer years ago who was invited to play in a foursome
with Gerald Ford, Jack Nicklaus, and Billy Graham. He had played with Nicklaus
before, but he was in awe of playing with President Ford and Billy Graham.
After the
round was finished, one of the other pros came up and asked, “Hey, what was it
like playing with the President and with Billy Graham?” The pro unleashed a
torrent of cursing, and said in a disgusting manner, “I don’t need Billy Graham
stuffing religion down my throat.” With that he turned and stormed off, heading
for the practice tee.
Funny
thing, the pro later admitted that Billy had not said one single thing about
“religion” when they played.
Face it! Be prepared for it! Not everyone will be thrilled with
the fact that you are a Spirit filled follower of Christ. The unregenerated man
is revulsed by the light of Christ because they love their sin! Joh 3:19 says,
"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Take heart when someone attempts to stop up your well, for it is a
testimony that you are a follower of Christ, and a citizen of heaven! . Mt 5:10 Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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