Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were all good men living in environments not conducive to inspire one to be good.  How did they do it?  Why did they do it?

Abraham's own father offered him to be killed for his goodness.  Abraham didn't subscribe to the idol worship of his father and community, so he was bound and put forth as a candidate for idol sacrifice.

Isaac was the latecomer son of his 100-year-old father.  He was resented by his half brother, Ishmael, because Isaac would get the inheritance that would otherwise have been Ishmael's.

Jacob was twin to Esau.  Esau hated Jacob, and announced his intention to kill him.  To save Jacob's life, their mother sent him far away where he would be safe, and where he would be more likely to find a covenant-keeping wife.  Due to his uncle's trickery, Jacob ended up with two wives—sisters—who had an adversarial relationship all the time they were married to Jacob.  The infighting and conflicts between Jacob's wives, and the problems caused by the less-than-stellar sons that they gave him, were a great trial to faithful Jacob.

One wonders why the Lord favored those less-than-stellar sons to become the foundation of the House of Israel.  The first 10 weren't good boys, and did not become the upright men that their father and grandfathers were.

But then son number 11, Joseph, was born.  Joseph was cut from the same pattern as his father, grandfather, and great grandfather.  He had a desire to be good, just for goodness' sake.  Because of his goodness his father favored him.  Because of his father's favoritism, and because of this goodness, his brothers hated him.  They plotted to kill him, but instead, sold him into slavery.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were each hated by their own close kindred.  They were hated for their goodness.  They were righteous, and were determined to hold onto their righteousness despite all opposition.  Each was blessed for his uprightness.  They have become the standard for goodness, steadiness, and faithfulness.  Among His other appellations, their God is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Those four ancestors of ours wanted to be good.  They were determined to be good despite opposition.  They knew from whence their blessings came, and that those blessings would be eternal if they just maintained their faithfulness.  They were unusual, and favored, men.

I am observing those same characteristics in all of my grandsons.  Their fathers are the same, and have successfully passed these genes, desires, and teachings to their sons.  This is thrilling to this grandfather.

The Farber boys have a non-member grandfather, Mike, who has also taken note of this characteristic.  He has previously been amazed at the quality of young men that the four Farber girls found to marry.  Those boys are the equals of their good wives.  “Where did they find these guys?” Mike asks.  He comes from southern California, and didn't know that such quality young men existed.

Mike and his wife attended church with the four Farber boys.  Mike and his wife both cried during the meeting, and declared that what they were hearing was the truth.

Following the meeting Mike individually asked each of the four boys why they were good.  He wanted to pin the blame on their mother.  They agreed that their mother's teachings made them the way they were, but that the Church made her what she is, and that the Church and Jesus Christ have made them what they are.

I always wanted to be good, too.  I have worked to be good since I was a little boy.  But these grandsons are carrying their ancestors' goodness to new levels.  These boys are far, far ahead of me in their goodness, knowledge, and skills.

My riding lawn mower broke down a couple of days ago.  The cutting blades quit spinning.  Mechanical problems like this loom huge in my mind.  I know in advance that I won't be smart enough to fix the problem.  In this case I figured the trouble was electrical, in the switch.  I'd need to find a pickup, haul the machine to town, pay a big repair bill, and be without my mower for a couple of weeks.

I went to Kevin to borrow a pickup.  Seventeen-year-old Hyrum said he'd like to look at the mower.  He elevated a wheel so that he could look at the mower deck, found a loose spring, drilled a hole in which to reattach the spring and thus replace the missing or broken part, and had my problem fixed in a matter of minutes.  He informed me that the belt was badly frayed, and would not last much longer.

Meanwhile his brother, Benjamin, took it upon himself to pick two big bowls of strawberries for his mother, without being asked.  Nor had I asked for Hyrum's help.

I ordered a new belt the next morning, got on my mower, and didn't quite get a round completed before the belt broke.  I had the new belt in hand the next morning.  I was dreading having to figure out how to install it.  There were a variety of ways that the belt might fit around the three pulleys, there were parts needing to be removed, and there wasn't much room under the machine in which to work.  Besides that, my bad knee doesn't allow me to crawl around on the ground very well anymore

Wesley was here.  He said, “I like that kind of stuff.”  (I can't tell you how good it was to hear that!)  I got him a few tools, and in a matter of minutes I had a working lawn mower.  Several hours later my lawns were all mowed.

These boys are good at everything that they do, and they do it with big smiles on their faces.  Their goodness shines out through their eyes.  The world is blessed to have them.

Me, too.