Do you ever feel like you are just marking time in your Christian life? Did you once dream of doing big things for God? Maybe he would use you to bring others into his kingdom. Or revitalise the church. Start a ministry, lead or contribute to something incredible. See God move in a mighty way. But the years rolled by, and you’re still waiting. Just what does God want you to do for him?

Time after time in the Old Testament, and repeated in the New, God declares himself to be “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” These are the patriarchs of the Jewish nation, the fathers of Israel’s history.

We read a lot about Abraham; a man of great faith and faithfulness, rightly revered by Jews down the ages as the father of the nation God promised.

We read a lot about Jacob. Chosen by God to be the one through whom this chosen nation would grow; tricked into marrying Leah (he eventually married Rachel too); the father of twelve sons who became heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Lots of information, lots of detail, about Abraham and Jacob.

What about the man in the middle? Not so much about Isaac! He was the son of Abraham; the husband of Rebekah; the father of Jacob and Esau. Most of what we know about Isaac, we discover through his dealings with others.

One commentator has written of Isaac, “He generally did what God told him to do.”  How would you like that on your tombstone as a summary of your life?

Without Isaac, there would be no Jacob and no nation of Israel. Isaac’s faithfulness bridged the gap that saw God’s purposes fulfilled; right down to the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.

God has a role for you in his kingdom.  Will you be faithful?