JANUARY 12 "RE-DIGGING THE WELLS OF OUR FATHER"

  This is the hope we must have for our children. Isaac, a rugged man, "I am my own man, I am not going to follow in my dad's footsteps"...long story short, he ends up re digging the wells of his father; and even more significant gives them the same names! This is the turning point and break thru in Isaac's life. You will notice it is just a little later, after this decision to re-dig his father's wells and give them the same names, that God appears to him and says, "I am the God of your father Abraham."  This is our hope, that God reveals himself to our children.  We will not intellectually convert them, we will not even convert them by our perfect example. We cannot provide them a perfect example because we are flawed and if they are looking for a reason not to serve God they will just wait for us to slip and then use that as their excuse and we will feel condemned. We need to be intellectually sound concerning matters to the bible and be able to answer the "hard questions" children ask us.  We must provide to them the best example of what being a Christian is.  However, at the end of the day, if God does not reveal himself to them they still will not be converted. Pray, pray and pray more, that the God of Abraham, who revealed himself to Isaac and Jacob also do the same for your children.  Our job is not to give up and to keep digging wells and establishing a foundation for our children and to keep our testimony before them; being prepared for the day when God gives our children an Epiphany of their own.  Many parents give up and then blow their testimony, they stray, some even get divorced and years later, to their surprise their children are converted, but the problem is, they are left to forge it out by themselves rather than have the benefit of someone who went before them. Isaac in his pride tried to do it on his own, but when he came to his senses he went back to his father's wells, re-dug them and even gave them the same names that his father had named them.  Your children may be loud mouthed, rebellious and irreverent right now, but you stay the course, dig those wells and trust that one day, your children will follow in your path and they will drink from those wells that you dug and thank God for you!