July 22, 2025
Genesis 28: 3-9

3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.


New International Version (NIV)
How did you find spouses for your kids? Wait. You didn't? Neither did we. But we are grateful and delighted.  

Isaac blessed Jacob again as he sent him back to his mother's family to find a spouse. Remember this is how Abraham found Isaac's wife. What was at stake? Spiritual compatibility.  

Abraham's family had a mission to become a blessing to others. They belonged to the Lord who had chosen them. "Missionary dating" was not an option. Esau had married Canaanite wives but they had not converted to faith in the Lord.

As Jacob left, Esau overheard his father's concern about Canaanite spouses. In response, he went to His Uncle Ishmael's family to take another spouse.  

Soon after the wedding, differences in traditions and expectations emerge. A shared faith in the Lord provides the firm foundation for a marriage to withstand the challenges life brings.  

 If we disciple our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, there is a good chance they will choose spouses who also love the Lord.  

Pray with me:
Father, we thank you for saving us and giving us life. Help us to follow you with our whole hearts. May the generations behind us find us faithful. Draw them to your life-giving love, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Our Monday through Friday devotionals are in the book of Genesis this year. Join us for these devotionals as we learn together about our God and his Kingdom in the world.  

We also invite you to join us as we read through the Bible. Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy here:
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