"And Abraham said to his young
men, 'Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will
worship and return to you.' " Genesis 22:5
Recently, in studying the names of God,
we studied the name Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD provides.
During this time we looked at Genesis 22 and the picture (the Father and His
only loved Son, who was slain at Calvary) that is painted here between a father
and his only loved son is beautiful. But what has really spoke to my
heart, and I am so in awe of, is Abraham obedience. He
displayed unconditional and immediate obedience to the LORD
(see verse 3). What the LORD is showing me is that
true worship includes sacrifice and that I must respond with unconditional
and immediate obedience when the He tests me.
And I am so encouraged at Abraham's
faith found here in verse 5. He knew that he and the lad would come back
after worshiping the LORD; he knew that the LORD would provide, even if it meant raising his son back from the
dead; Awesome Lord please grant me faith such as this during my times of
testing.
And the LORD indeed
did provide. Isaac had been bound, laid upon the altar and the
knife raised, ready to slay his son, when the Angel of the LORD called from heaven and said, "Do not stretch out your hand
against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since
you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." Then Abraham
lifted his eyes and looked and behold, behind him a ram caught in the
thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and
offered him up as a burnt offering in the place of his son." (verses
12,13)
This has made me look prayerfully at my
life. Do I fear God? I must choose to lay the Isaac's in
my life on the altar and place my faith in a God who's Son, for me, was
placed on an altar in the shape of a cross and He allowed Himself to be slain
that I might be set free for all eternity. What an Awesome God we
serve!
Have a joyous day in our
Lord!
April
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