A Few Bible Thoughts For Your Day

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Date: Jul 25 2017 4:12 PM

Hey Everybody,

What a nice couple of rainy days we have had. It is always a blessing to see the rain fall and revitalize the earth. I hope your week is off to a great start. Please join us Wednesday night at 7 for Bible class. We will continue our exciting study of Moses.

For today, here are a few thoughts.

A Favorite Child

Once there was a father and a mother. They had two boys. They were a fine family, but they had one problem: the older boy was the father's favorite child, and the younger boy was the mother's favorite.

Today we often see and hear of such inequalities around us. Parents proudly show off their favorite child and announce their partiality for all to hear. The children also know it well.

Sometimes the inequalities show up in other ways: the favorite child is given more and better food, if there is any shortage; he may be better clothed; he may receive most or all of the family inheritance; he may receive special treatment in the home, being spared discipline and being given a better education than the other children.

Returning to our story, we said that in that family there was one problem: favoritism! Can it be possible that partiality among children is a serious problem? Is real damage done by such doting love? Let us look to the story and see.

In Genesis 25:28 the Scriptures say, "And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob."

The boys grew to be men, and the time came when Isaac wanted to give his older son a special blessing. Rebekah overheard their conversation and sent Jacob instead to Isaac, who was blind. Jacob convinced his father that he himself was Esau, and so he was given the blessing. When Esau learned what had happened, he was so angry he declared that he would kill his brother. Rebekah was told of Esau's intention, so she sent Jacob away to live with distant relatives until peace could be restored between the boys. Jacob lived for twenty years as an exile from his family, and he never saw his father and mother alive again (Genesis 25-33).

Can favoritism be a real problem? Can it do serious damage in family relationships? In the family of Isaac, favoritism caused these problems and tragedies: (A) Competition between parents; (B) Competition between children; (C) Lying to the father; (D) Deceit of the father; (E) Hatred of Jacob by Esau; (F) Intention to kill Jacob in Esau's heart; (G) Jacob's life-long exile from his family; (H) Loneliness and grief for all family members. Was favoritism a tragic thing in the family of Isaac? Certainly it was, and it is also harmful and wrong in today's world.

All children have emotions and feelings. All need to have self-esteem. All need to feel confident of the love of father and mother. When we, as parents, bring children into the world, it is our duty and responsibility to give them these basic requirements. It may not always be possible to give them ample food, or clothes, or whatever they want of the physical things, but we can and must give them a full measure of love and the resulting self-esteem that are so necessary in the proper development of any child.

Let us not be guilty of causing hurts in tender hearts by rejecting one child with the cruel words spoken proudly of another: "He is my favorite!" Acts 10:34 says, "... In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality." (See also Romans 2:11,12; 1 Timothy 5:21; James 2:9). "But wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy" (James 3:17).

Have a great week!

Mitch Robison

Enon Church of Christ

1366 Enon Rd.

Webb, AL 36376

[email protected]

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