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Day 15 Genesis 22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, “Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, “My father:” and he said, “Here am I, my son.” And he said, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:” so they went both of them together. 9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham:” and he said, “Here am I.” 12 And he said, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fear God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. 15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, “By myself have I sworn, says the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. Have you ever started to do something that seemed unethical, so unthinkable, you would never do it, not even as a last resort? And yet you felt compelled to obey. God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. We don’t know if Abraham argued with God, but we see he obeyed God and set out on the three-day journey. Isaac questioned his father about the sacrifice. Abraham simply told him God would provide the lamb. When Abraham laid Isaac on the altar, and lifted up his hand to sacrifice him to God, God stopped him and provided the lamb. As Christians, you are familiar with the story of Abraham and Isaac. You know how the story ends in triumph. You know this is a foreshadowing of God’s sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus, for the sins of the world. Yet, this isn’t only about how God saved Isaac. It is about Abraham’s obedience. Abraham had a close relationship with God. He was known as God’s friend. You can’t have a close relationship with someone if you don’t spend time with them. The only way to have a close relationship with God is to spend time with Him in prayer. During one of his prayer times with God, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son to Him. He didn’t want to deprive Abraham of his only son, but to know how deep his relationship was with God. Would Abraham obey everything God told him? When you spend time with God, do you spend enough time to hear God speak to you? Do you have a conversation as you do with a friend? When God tells you to do something, is your response a ready one, willing to do whatever God asks you? If you didn’t know how the story ended, what would you think of Abraham? Would you consider him to be the worst person on earth? Prayer is putting your faith and trust in God so that no matter what God asks, you know He will come through. Abraham told Isaac God would provide the lamb. He never doubted God would give him his son back to him. Abraham put his full trust in God to bring him through. What do you face? Have you spent time with God to know God will bring you through? Victory is yours. You only need to believe God to take care of the details of your situation. Let’s pray: Father, I know I don’t spend as much time with You as I should. Help me hear You when You speak, and obey what You tell me, knowing You will bring about the victory in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 28 June 2021 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay.