My Son, If You Accept My Words

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
This is one of the saddest verses in the account of Isaac. Here he is on his death bed and cannot trust that someone in his household is not deceiving him. My son, you must strive to live a life of flawless character. Your family will learn your ways and will follow that path. I pray that you prayerfully seek your wife—trusting in the Lord to provide her for you. May you learn of her ways---learn of her love for her Lord---and learn of her love for her family. But, I also implore you to be a leader in your home that expects honesty, truth, and sacrificial love. These are not demands made, but these are patterns set by integrity that is established through a saving relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. As a husband, you lead by example into a loving, honest, trustworthy, and sincere relationship that honors the Lord. You are to serve your family. With this kind of leadership, you should be able to safely trust in your relationship with your wife and have full confidence in her that she will not only love the Lord with all her heart, but she will love you with all her heart, and will raise your children to serve and honor the Lord with all their hearts and will teach them right from wrong. Through this mutual love for the Lord and one another, you will be able to share with her knowing that she is trustworthy, sincere in her faith, have confidence in her ability to be a helpmeet, and in her motherhood. There is nothing sweeter than the love that God pours into our hearts through His spirit. His Love gives you the ability to hope all things, bear all things, believe all things, and keep no record of wrongs. (1 Cor. 13 paraphrased)
Rebekah was a fixer. Instead of trusting in her husband’s position of authority placed over their household by God, she wanted to ‘fix’ the pouring of blessings to Jacob’s advantage. She is an example of one who is not willing to submit under what she perceives as difficult circumstances. True submission is yielding to the authority placed in your life by God no matter if it makes sense or not, because you are ultimately submitting to the authority of God in your life. He has placed this authority there. He knows the decisions that this authority is making. Ultimately, true submission is true submission to God’s Sovereignty and Omniscience. Submission is not the act of submitting when it makes the person look good in front of others. Submission is not the act of submitting when it makes sense to the submitter. No. True submission is when your wife says, ‘Lord, you know my husband better than I do. I trust you, Lord, that he will be the husband, leader, provider, and protector that You have called him to be. I will pray for his wisdom and discernment all my days. My trust is ultimately in You, Lord, to lead him. May he heed Your Voice, Lord.’
Sin, whether it is yours or hers, may cause you to miss out on the blessings God originally had planned for your family. He will allow you to experience whatever your obedience deserves. She had selfish desires for her favorite son. These desires created division that are still felt today.
Again, may this serve as a warning. Sin creeps in. In the beginning of any relationship, we can truly be sincere in our faith. But, if we are not diligent in seeking the Lord and heeding his commands for our life, we can become someone that we don’t recognize.

‘Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.’ Proverbs 4:23.