Genesis 22:1-8
1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
During some of study time (and by study time, I mean the kind that I actually enjoy) this morning, God gave me an interesting illustration that may or may not make sense to you.
In Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Issac. Abraham is obedient and sets out with his son. When Issac asks where the lamb is, Abraham responds by telling him that "God will provide the lamb." This proves to be truer than Abraham knows. When Abraham is poised to sacrifice his son, an angel of God tells him to lay down the knife and then does indeed provide a more traditional lamb.
One of the greatest, if not
the greatest, goals that a follower of Christ can have is to give up their will in favor of the Father's will.
This process is not easy and is often frustrating to many who seek communion with God. This struggle leads many to ask the question of why God would even bother to give us free will only to ask that we give it away.
If we look at Luke 22, when Jesus is on the Mount of Olives agonizing before his arrest, we see him pray "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine." In this simple prayer, we see two great truths: First, "take this cup", we, as humans, have a will. Second, "yet I want your will", our wills may not be the same as God's.
So, just as God gave Abraham a lamb so that he might sacrifice it back to God, God has given us each free will so that we might be able to lay it down and choose His will over ours.
Today, let yourself be a living sacrifice to the One who gave you that life (Romans 12).