"Then He said, 'Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.'" Genesis 22:2
Recently I was working on a Bible study which directed me to look up this verse on the call of God for Abraham to sacrifice his only son, who he loved. Here was Abraham, who probably couldn't love Isaac any more than he did, yet when God called him to sacrifice him he "rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him." Genesis 22:3
It struck me that God calls all of us to sacrifice that thing which we love. I'm not talking about literal sacrifice like with Isaac but rather are we willing to offer to Him anything that may detract our affections from Him, first and foremost. It could be anything: our marriage, our children, our home, our status, our own way, our reputation, our financial security, friendship, stability, comfort, food, convenience, etc. It is not that any of these things are bad, but if we love them more than God, God will ask us to sacrifice that idol.
It's somewhat humbling to consider the passion and commitment of Abraham to obey God and the extreme he was willing to go to in that obedience, an evidence of his faith.
So when I look at the passion of Abraham to do such a difficult thing to obey God, I realize that thing in my life God wants me to sacrifice pales in comparison, yet, I have difficulty laying it on the altar of sacrifice.
Let me offer a very rough paraphrase to bring this closer to home. You fill in the blank. Then God said, "Take __________________________, which you love, and offer it as a sacrifice unto the Lord."
What is it in your life that God is calling you to sacrifice to test your obedience? Are you being faithful? Are you being obedient? Are you loving Jesus above all else?
Diane
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