The Faith of Abraham
Each time I read through Genesis chapter 22, I am amazed at the faith of Abraham. God called upon Abraham to take his son, Isaac, his only son to the land of Moriah "and offer him there for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:2). Without hesitation or question, Abraham gathered his wood, and with two of his young men and his son, Isaac, he began his journey to Moriah. Upon arrival, he left his two servants behind. Then Abraham and Isaac continued their journey to the mountain that God chose.
Isaac asked his father about the lamb for the burnt offering, but Abraham reassured him that God would provide the lamb for the burnt offering.
Abraham proceeded to build an alter, lay the wood upon it, and then took his dear son, Isaac, bound him and laid him upon the wood that was on the alter. Just as Abraham raised the knife to slay his son, an angel of the LORD called out to him.
"And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." Genesis 22:12.
God then provided a ram for Abraham to offer up as a burnt offering in the place of his dear son. And God wasn't finished with that! He then blessed Abraham for his faithfulness by multiplying his "seed as the stars of heaven..."(Genesis 22:17).
What a mighty God we serve!
And what a testimony of faith!
I often wonder, could I do what Abraham did?
May you be blessed!
Heather
1 comment:
The comments during the sermons on this passage often revolve around our possible willingness to one day sacrifice the lives of our children for the Lord, and how probably none of us would have the faith Abraham did, but we need to look at it in much smaller circumstances as well. Are we willing to sacrifice the ideal we had in mind for our children in order to make the really important things first? Is the majority of the time we spend with our children centered around training them for service in the kingdom?
We need to actually talk about it when we sit down, and when we rise up, and all the time in EVERY little thing. That is the sacrifice God calls us to. Do we have the faith to make such a sacrifice?
Thank you, Heather, for the challenge I so needed today. I must sacrifice my desire for a day of my own ambitions for what God is asking of me.
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