Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
“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.”
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. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. “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.”
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, 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?”
“God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.
When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.”
Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Genesis 22:1-14
Imagine that one thing, one person, one dream, one desire.
The one thing that holds great value.
The one thing that we've worked hard to achieve.
The thing that we've dreamt of our entire life, that one thing.
What would be our response if God asked us to sacrifice it?
Would we allow our flesh to respond by holding it tight to our chest in resistance?
Or..
Would we allow faith to respond in worship?
Sacrifice: an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more worthy.
God asked Abraham for something of great value, his promised son, Isaac.
Instead of tightening his grasp, Abraham released him.
God called it sacrifice.
Abraham called it worship.
"The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
Worship comes from the word worth-ship.
Worshipping God is regarding His worth as higher than anything else.
As much as he valued his son Isaac, God was worth more.
Abraham, believed God.
He allowed his faith to respond.
God's instruction for his life was worth letting go of his answered prayer. He believed above all things, that there is nothing in life, greater than God.
When we choose to believe God, we trust that He is God in all circumstances, even when it doesn't make sense; even when the cost of obedience seems great.
When we see God's worth, as priceless, responding in faith is the only choice. We know that no matter what, God will be God, He will make a way.
When God calls for a sacrifice. When He asks us to release our most prized possession; let us not respond in our flesh.
Let us release it in faith, and call it worship, being careful to always value God above all things. He is worthy and He will provide.
For Reflection
What is one thing that holds great value to me?
What would my response be if God asked me to give it up?
Do I trust that God's instructions are always for my interest?
Is there something that God has asked me to release to Him?
Am I willing to release it in faith?
Scripture:
Genesis 22: 1-14
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