The Correction

 DEVOTION

THE CORRECTION

Gen 26:7-11

7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful." 8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her." 10 Then Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." 11 So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: "Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

NIV

Is this a, “Like father, like son” thing, or is it that Isaac did not know about his father, Abraham doing the same thing, saying that his wife was his sister because he was fearful of the men in the country where he lived. Again, it is the godless one who calls him out, finding the truth that Rebekah is Isaac’s wife. Just ask Abimelech found out about Sarah being Abraham’s wife. Interestingly the one who does not believe God gives instructions to the one who believes God. Can a non-believer teach a believer the truth of God? We have to remember that all things are possible with God and if we as a people who believe God are doing wrong a non-believer is used by God to give a word of wisdom or word of knowledge so that we are brought to the truth of our situation that is not pleasing to God. When faced with the truth both Abraham and Isaac confessed their fear, their truth, even if it was a deception. This should give us two clues regarding our work with the Lord. First, we should not live with any deceit or lies about who we are, what we are doing, or have done, or in some sense not live with that great façade in place, showing only our righteous front, while within there are some things that need fixing up, like acts, or thoughts of unrighteousness. Second, we should be open to always being teachable. First, from the Lord, whether from his word, or another believer, we could also learn something valuable from a non-believer. Although we may not think about it at times, the non-believer is watching us, for although they may not live to please the Lord, somewhere within them they are aware of the right from wrong. In the case of Abimelech, he catches Isaac in the lie, seeing him caressing his wife Rebekah. The non-believer may well catch us in an error, or a mistake that we make, an unrighteous moment, because we are but mere humans, and have not yet attained perfect righteousness. Yet, we still should always be open to correction from any source that God chooses to use, and we should not become defensive, but rather confess our error, and move forward from there. Even in the face of Isaac being corrected by a Philistine, God blessed Isaac abundantly, because he repented. When we are in error, God will always find a way to correct us. We simply must be open to his work in our lives and the correction.