Genesis 26:17-18 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

 A True Test of Christianity

After Abraham died, Isaac had a true test of his Christianity.  He no longer could depend on dad for advice.  He either had a relationship with God or he did not.  The first test he had came in the form of a famine.  He was either going to go down to Egypt or go where God told him to go-Gerar.  Unfortunately, he did not learn a lesson from dad’s mistakes about pretending his wife was his sister; however, he did go to Gerar.  Some things we pass on to our children we wish they did not get.  Next, Isaac needed to clean out all the garbage that the Philistines had thrown into dad’s wells.  After that, he was able to dig some wells of his own.

A Second Generation Christian Makes His Way

Isaac was a second generation Christian.  He was probably close to 75 when his father died and he had to make his own way. Esau and Jacob were likely young men at this point in his life.  Now that daddy was gone, he had to see if his Christianity was real.  First, he had to go back and reclaim some of the lost ground of his father.  Just because your mom and dad made some great strides early in their Christian life, that does not mean those strides will always be there for you.  You may have to go back and unclogged some of the wells of life and gain back that lost ground.  The world is going to fight you in the process, just like the Philistines did with Isaac.  They don’t want you to get that ground back.

Learning to Conquer New Ground On Your Own

You also may need to move on and conquer new ground that mom and dad were not able to conquer.  As a second generation Christian, you should be able to go farther than mom and dad.  Eventually, Isaac needed to move on if he was going to be effective.  He could not just live on daddy’s wells.  He needed his own fresh, new wells.  He needed to see God move and make a way for him, just like he did for dad.  Christian young person, sooner or later you will need to get your own walk with God, your own family, and make your way in the world.

Your Own Walk With God

Unless you have a walk with God now, and have learned how to dig wells while under mom and dad’s roof, you will not make it for God when you have to dig your own wells.  You need your own convictions, not just mom and dads.  They need to be YOUR convictions.  You need to know what you believe and how to use it.  Mom and dad are not always going to be there for you.  You need to learn to depend on God and get answers from Him, through His Word.  What are you doing to make sure you are ready for that day when it comes?  It was not until Isaac digged the new wells that God met with him at the altar.  The same is true in your life.  You need to dig your own wells if God is going to meet you at the altar.