@ Etude -Willingness to Obey

@Etude- Willingness to Obey
God said, “Take now your son, your only son of promise, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah, and offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall tell you.”

Genesis 22 v 2


God had given an heir to the childless couple Abraham and Sarah. The son born out of this promise of God was named Isaac or “laughter” as he was the cause and source of joy in their lives. Yet, God was asking of Abraham that he sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham did not demur or hesitate. He prepared for the sacrifice even as he hoped in his heart that the Lord would provide an alternative to sacrifice. Often, the Lord tests our hearts by asking of us the very thing we are passionate about. At the crucial moment, God stayed the hand of Abraham as he was about to place his knife upon Isaac.

The attempted sacrifice of Isaac is itself a foreshadow of the sacrifice by God of His own and only begotten Son Jesus for the salvation of all mankind. The ram whose horns were entangled in the thorny bush which Abraham used in place of Isaac is itself a symbol of the Lamb of God, Jesus, provided by God since we have to pay too high a price to redeem ourselves. Today, our homes and hearts are the Moriah on which we need to place our sacrifices – willing and obedient hearts before the Lord.

God will test our faith to check if we are ready to sacrifice the source of our laughter or joy, the blessings we have received as a promise from the Lord. Like Abraham, we must be ready to place everything on the altar of the Lord for what have we but what we have received by the grace and mercy of the Lord. He who did not withhold His Son from us expects us to reciprocate His spirit of sacrifice. Abraham as he went through all the motions of preparing Isaac for the sacrifice held onto his faith that the Lord will provide.