Title: Priorities
Surprised to see an empty seat at the Super Bowl stadium, a diehard fan remarked about it to a woman sitting nearby. “It was my husband’s,” the woman explained, “But he died.” “I’m very sorry,” said the man. “Yet I’m really surprised that another relative, or friend, didn’t jump at the chance to take the seat reserved for him.”
“Beats me,” she said. “They all insisted on going to the funeral.”
Genesis 26:24-33
That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."
25Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?"
28They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ’There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’--between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD."
30Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
32That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, "We’ve found water!" 33He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
Isaac son of Abraham went up to Beersheeba I want you to notice his priorities.
1. Isaac built an alter there and called upon the name of the Lord
Isaac’s first priority where ever he went was to locate a good Bible believing Pentecostal church and worship with the other believers.
2. Isaac pitched his tent.
Isaac’s second priority was to his family. While God was most important in Isaac’s life, His family, His wife and then children was his main earthly concern.
that priority included
-taking care of his wives needs
-disciplining and leading the children in the faith
-working
3. There His servants Dug a well
Isaac’s third priority was toward mankind. In the desert a well was life, Life not only for his family and animals, but for anyone who traveled near by
His third priority was to refresh all those who came into his venue with life giving water.
PRAYER
1. Isaac built an alter there and called upon the name of the Lord Gen 26:25
A. IN ISAACS DAY THEY HAD NO CHURCH
The patriarch would go to a place, and there on the plane, he would make an accessible alter.
This would be the place where he would sacrifice to Jehovah, and the place would be consecrated for worship and prayer.
B. The modern day application of this priority is church
why do I say CHURCH
This first priority presupposes the knowledge of and faith in God
Don’t get me wrong.........God wants to be number 1 in your life
Jesus says That............
Luke 12:29-31
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. [30] For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. [31] But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
But being in church was the way Isaac displayed his faith in God
I think sometimes when we say God is most important
we do not realize what that means -- if he really is most important......
Matthew 19:28-30 Jesus says
"Every one who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters or father, or mother or children or lands for my names sake, will receive a hundred fold and inherit eternal life".
God wants to be first place in our lives, and that means we must forsake anything else that would take his place
1 Timothy 6:10 talks about the number one thing that desires to stand in the way of us putting God first.
It says "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, some people eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Money of course is not the only thing that we put before God
Putting God first means we will do everything within our power to display our faith in Christ like Isaac did.
and that means being in church
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH MRS CRAIG?
at age 81 she has never missed a Sunday in 21 years
What is the matter with Mrs. Craig?
Don’t you ever have company on Sunday to keep you from church? Don’t you ever go anywhere on Saturday night and get too tired to wake up for church? Don’t you ever have headaches, nervous spells or other troubles to keep you home? Don’t you ever take a trip to the lake or to the mountains over the weekend? Don’t you ever sleep late on Sunday morning? Don’t you ever get your feelings hurt by someone at church?
What is the matter with Mrs. Craig?
Is there anything wrong with her, It would be nice if the same thing were wrong with all of us.
It would be nice if all of us had our priorities straight
Like Isaac who when he came into a place the first thing he did was honored God
We too should make it our priority to honor God by being in church.
The bible tells us in Hebrews that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
by reasoning away the importance of displaying our faith in Him by being in church.
A second priority which does not change is family
2. Genesis 26 says Isaac pitched his tent.
While God was most important in Isaac’s life, His family, His wife and his children were his main earthly concern.
This priority is revealed in the new testament also
Ephesians 5: 21 and following "submit to one another, wives submit to their own husbands, husbands love their wives, and 6:1 Children obey your parents.
You cannot go wrong investing plenty of time in your family relationship.
1. Men....Your relationship with your wife is the most important earthly relationship you will ever have.
You can make the best of it and watch it grow, or you can neglect it and watch your world fall apart around you.
"be satisfied with your wife" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
nourish, encourage, and challenge her
for to seek satisfaction in any other relationship will bring such shame according to PROVERBS 6:33 that it will never be wiped away".
MEN...Your wives and families are your priorities.
2. Women...The Bible says Proverbs 21:19 "It is better to live in a desert then with a quarrelsome and ill tempered wife"
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord
ILLUSTRATION
A women who was celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary was asked "what has been the secret to your long marriage"
She replied, "when i was married, I decided to make a list of my husbands faults, which for the sake of our marriage I would overlook"
what was on your list?
the women replied "well to tell you the truth, I never did get around to listing them, But whenever my husband did something that made me hopping mad, I would say to myself
"Lucky for him that was one of the ten."
Children ....The Bible tells parents "Discipline your son for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death".
The final priority I want to talk about has to do with our responsibility to the world.
3. Genesis 26:25 says "There His servants Dug a well"
Isaac’s third priority was toward mankind. In the desert a well was life, Life not only for his family and animals, but for anyone who traveled near by
His third priority was to refresh all those who came into his venue with life giving water.
Jesus commands that we make evangelism a priority in our lives.
That we give the gospel of life to all men.
Matthew 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation, whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned".
God has given You the message of reconciliation
he has given you to drink
and now you have an opportunity to share with others THIS MESSAGE
that Jesus invites all men when he says "If any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink". (John 7:37)
ILLUSTRATION
The Amazon river has the largest flow of fresh water of any river on earth. Its mouth is over 70 miles wide, and its currents of fresh water can be felt for miles and miles out in the ocean.
In days gone by tall ships would sail around south america. And at times the winds would die completely setting the ships adrift with no power. The men on board those ships would die for lack of fresh water
As it would happen some ships with more experienced sailors and captains would see a ship like this floundering in the water and come near and call to them "WHAT IS THE MATTER"
They would reply we are dying of thirst, can you spare us some fresh water
The call would come back just lower your buckets over the side of the boat your in the mouth of the mighty amazon river
The were in fresh water all along, and were dying of thirst.
There are people around us today who are dying of thirst.
it is because they do not know that there are life giving waters available to them
We need to make the evangelization of our world a priority.
conclusion
1. Isaac built an alter there and called upon the name of the Lord
2. Isaac pitched his tent.
3. There His servants Dug a well
Some Priorities change
But these priorities remain the same
What do your priorities look like
