"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." Galatians 6:7
We often see certain habits and character traits being passed down in a family, from one generation to another. As many admirable characteristics as Abraham had, he had one that is not to be admired. Twice he lied about his relationship with his wife Sarah to protect himself. He said that she was his sister rather than his wife. She actually was his half-sister, but a half truth is still a lie.
Isaac's wife, Rebekah, and Isaac's son, Jacob, collaborated to deceive the old man, and Jacob received the blessing that ordinarily would have belonged to Esau. Jacob fled from his angry brother and walked 500 miles to Haran, the town where Rebekah's relatives lived. He moved in with his uncle Laban and fell in love with Laban's daughter Rachel. Jacob offered to work for seven years if Laban would allow him to marry Rebekah, and Laban agreed to the deal. But the deceiver, Jacob, was deceived by his wily uncle. Jacob actually married Rachel's older sister, Leah, who must have been heavily veiled at the ceremony. We see poetic justice in the way Laban treated Jacob. God often punishes us in a way that is especially appropriate for whatever sin we have committed. Warren Wiersbe wrote, "The man who deceived his father was deceived by his father-in-law, and the man who passed himself off as the first-born son now receives Laban's first-born daughter to be his wife. It's an inescapable law of life that we eventually reap what we sow."
Leah, who had been a party to deceiving her sister, was never loved by Jacob as much as he loved Rachel, and this was always a source of sorrow for her.
Think about your family--your children and, if you have any, your grandchildren and great grandchildren. What characteristics would you like to pass down to them? Are you living in such a way that you will be pleased if they learn from you and imitate your attitudes and actions?
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