Promise 67 Gen. 26:2-3a.

Gen. 26:2-3a. - "The Lord appeared to Him and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you....!" When I grew up, I was taught if God said to do something it was a 'Do it, or else!' But this has not been the case so far as God has been appearing to His chosen ones. He tells Isaac, "Stop here, don't go to Egypt and I will BLESS you." There are no negative consequences. I think most people live their lives making choices in order to avoid the consequences or punishment, in other words they live under a fear of God rather than making choices in order to catch the blessing God has for them. There is freedom in living for the blessing. If we are always living in fear that we might displease God it will also cause us to live in fear of displeasing man. Soon displeasing man somehow becomes more important to us than the fear of displeasing God. We see this mind set permeating our societies. The important truth that we are not taught in life, not even in most of our churches is that God gives us choices because He wants to please us! He doesn't dangle us over a consequence, He wants to bless us. He doesn't play hide and seek with the blessings either; hiding them and waiting to see if we will find them. No, He is very clear, 'Hey look over there, see that? Go over there and you'll be blessed!" He is more pleased when we obey His voice so that we'll find the blessings rather than obeying by avoiding the sin out of fear.