Abraham's beloved son was born and
grew into a lovely boy and Abraham loved him very much. Life
couldn't be better. He was blessed with riches, he had an heir and
a loving wife. And then one day God gave him the following
instruction:
"Take your son, your only son -
yes, Isaac whom you love so much - and go to the land of Moriah.
Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains,
which I will point out to you." Genesis 22:2
That must have been a shock to
Abraham and something every loving parent will dread to do. Any
loving parent would much rather sacrifice themselves than their
children. I know I would. The Bible doesn't tell us here what
Abraham's emotions were or how he felt about the situation, all
that it tells us is that he got up early the next morning, chopped
wood to take along for the offering, took two servants and Isaac
and were on his way. He didn't waste any time in being obedient to
the Lord. The Bible doesn't say if he told Sarah where he was
going. I personally don't think he told her the truth, as I am
convinced that she would have tried to stop him.
Then for three days they travelled
on to Mount Moriah. That must have been the most difficult three
days in Abraham's life. He was walking with this secret on the
inside that he had to sacrifice his son. He must have treasured
every moment spent with him. He might even have cried before the
Lord, we do not know. All that I know is that for me personally, a
trip like that would have been devastating.
But then we read in Hebrews 11 how
amazing Abraham's faith really was. Hebrews 11 gives us an insight
into Abraham's thoughts that we do not find here in Genesis 22:
"It was by faith that Abraham
offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who
had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son,
Isaac, though God had promised him, "Isaac is the son through whom
your descendants will be counted." Abraham assumed that if Isaac
died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense,
Abraham did receive his son back from the dead." Hebrews
11:17-19
How wonderful is that?! Abraham
believed that even if he sacrificed his son, God will raise him
from the dead again. What wonderful faith. When we read this whole
event, we see that Abraham never wavered and never tried to get out
of the situation. He simply obeyed. And what an amazing testimony
to his faith!
Today God wants us to be prepared
to sacrifice our dreams to Him as well. He wants us to place Him
first always. Sometimes He will even test us to see if we will be
willing to let go of our dreams in order to glorify Him. Think
about that this week. Is God first in your life? Is He your
everything? Is He more important than anything else? And if the
answer is no, then start today by placing Him first, by loving Him
more than anything else. And once you do, you will start to develop
the faith that He wants what is best for you. He doesn't want to
take things from you, but He wants to raise you up to a new level
where your character is developed to such a point where you can
make a real difference for His Kingdom's glory. Then you will start
to realise that He can raise your dreams from the dead and give it
new life. He can open doors for you that have been shut for such a
long time. He can make the paths smooth for you. He can. But place
Him above all else and live for the glory of His Name and for His
honour.
Thank you Father that we can know
that You want only what is best for us. Thank you that we can look
at the example of Abraham and marvel at his faith. But most of all,
thank you that we can realise that we are his offspring too and we
can have the same depth of faith, imparted to us by Jesus Christ.
Help us to believe in the impossible and to place You first above
all things. In Jesus' Name. Amen