By Rev. Teresia Wairimu
“Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” 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.”
Gen. 26:1-7
“Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
Genesis 26:12-22
Rev. Teresia Wairimu Kinyanjui has advised Kenyans to exercise care and diligence as they pick leaders at all levels in the forth-coming general election. She said this while preaching during Faith Evangelistic Ministry’s inter-denominational service at Karen in the month of February.
“Election time is just around the corner. What kind of nation do you want to have? God is giving us an opportunity to make that choice. The leaders we elect into office will influence the course that our nation will follow.
“The nation of Kenya will celebrate fifty years of self-governace next year. It will be our Year of Jubilee. As we celebrate the jubilee, shall we have in office a leader who loves what God loves, and hates what God hates? Shall we move forward as a nation, or shall we move backwards?
“I was shocked when I read about a proposal to create a red light district in the city of Nairobi. Our constitution prohibits prostitution, but that proposal is intended to make prostitution legal. This country was recognized throughout Africa as a nation that fears God. Even our national anthem acknowledges the supremacy of God in the land. “O God, of all creation. Bless this our land and nation . . .” But now, we want to change course and take a secular path. We want to be like other nations.
LIFE’S MANUAL
“It doesn’t matter which culture or nation gives approval to practices that are contrary to the Word of God. That nation invites judgment on itself, because the Bible is life’s manual. Nobody should pretend that they know a better way, other than the one laid by God. We need leaders who say what they say out of conviction, not because they want to impress voters to win favour with them.
