obedience
in genesis chapters 21 and 22 we learned the story of Abraham and Isaac. if you haven’t read it lately, let me give you the gist:
God gave Abraham and his wife, Sarah, a child when they were super old and not normally able to bear children. they named the child Isaac as God told them to.
Abraham loved his son so much. he was so joyful.
well, fast forward a few years later when Isaac was a young teen.
One day God told Abraham to take his son to a far mountain and sacrifice him.
being the faithful servant that Abraham was, he went. he was terribly sad that he was going to sacrifice his son. as he reached up to kill Isaac, an angel told him to “not lay [his] hand on the boy or do anything to him” (gen. 22:12)
God saw his faithfulness and provided a sacrifice to replace Isaac.
have you ever been given a gift from God that’s so good. so amazing that you forget about the giver, and focus on the gift?
we as humans have a habit of honoring the gift over the giver.
Abraham never expected that he and Sarah would ever have a child. they were both well into a century old! so when the child was provided to Abraham, he loved it deeply.
however, unlike us, Abraham was willing to give up his great gift when God asked.
the agony and pain must have been crazy. But in the end the obedience would prove to bring more joy to Abraham then giving into agony would.
there’s a phrase out there that says “obedience demands something of the obedient.”
i think this phrase totally relates to this topic.
God knows best, and he will ask all of us to do something that is hard. it is our job to be faithful and rely on the love and power of our lord.
now i don’t think anyone will have to sacrifice their son, but making a choice to serve others, give a dollar to a homeless person, forgive someone, or turn the other cheek could make all the difference in our faith.
if you haven’t heard God ask something of you, you’re not listening!!
my challenge for y’all is to listen to what God is calling you to go do this week, whether it’s service, giving money to someone who needs it, or even helping your mom wash the dishes.
thanks for reading friends!
with prayers and love,
katie