The Bible study we're doing on Sunday mornings is Genesis, Immersion Bible Studies, by J. Ellsworth Kalas. Last Sunday and the Sunday before, we studied Chapter 6 which is about Isaac. We can read in the Bible a lot about Abraham and Jacob, but Isaac is scarcely more than a footnote.
Pastor Kalas described Isaac as an ordinary man for his time. I think had he lived in this time, he would have had a 9 to 5 boring job; acted as chauffer to his twin boys to and from soccer, baseball, and basketball practices; and been a regular church attender. Not many people would have noticed him, but they would have admired his father and have shaken their heads over his sons.
Not exciting, but dependable. Not involved in a lot of things, but willing to help if asked. He wouldn't be the one leading the way, but he'd follow along with most things.
Still--Isaac and his wife Rebecca made sure their sons knew about God. Their faith must have been infectious. No, they didn't always act perfectly--Isaac told the king of Egypt Rebecca was his sister; Rebecca perpetrated a lie that drove a wedge between the brothers and pushed one of them far away from his hearth and home. Isaac and Rebecca were human. They made wrong choices that could have had disasterous results.
Still--they were carriers. Their sons caught religion from them. God worked His purpose out despite their mistakes.
Not everyone is a leader. There have to be followers, too, and there is nothing wrong with being a follower. Not everyone is in the spotlight, but for every star there have to a dozen supporters who are every bit as important--just not as visible.
Think about it next time you watch a movie. There is the star--and there is the author, the screenwriter, the songwriter, the musicians, the camera operators, the makeup people, the stunt men (or women), the stage hands, the prop artists, the costume designers, the director, the producer, the co-stars--you get the picture.
So Isaac may be seen as a carrier of the faith. May I be seen as the same thing.
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