Like Father Like Son

Preview for Wednesday Night's Bible Study.

and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman." Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Genesis 20:2-4

So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 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." 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. 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." Genesis 26: 6-9

Here we find a father, Abraham, and a son, Isaac, making an identical mistake. They both allowed fear to cause them to lie. As a parent, these verses scare me to death.Yes, I want my children to follow my steps. I do not want them to follow my mistakes. We must live holy and righteous lives as parents because if we like it or not our children will follow us.Yes, a child makes decisions for themselves, but most visible person in molding my child's character and integrity is me.

I remember sitting in Scout's parent teacher conference, the teacher continually telling us how great she was doing. She makes straight A's, her vocabulary is amazing, she helps other, etc. My chest began to bow with pride. Then there was that "but one thing". She tends to leave her desk a mess and her cubby will explode all over the floor from time to time. My wife goes into this agreement with her as they discuss strategies to make her more neat. I am just sinking down in my chair as the discussion goes on. I am thinking, it won't help. She is cursed to be like me. It happens. Our kids become us whether we like it or not.