…By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 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 sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. – Genesis 22:16-18
In Genesis 22, we find the story of Abraham and Isaac and how God had asked Abraham to offer up his only son on the altar as an offering to God. As I read the story, I kept coming back to the above verses, and God touched my heart about something. Abraham and Sarah had waited a long, long time to have the child that God had promised to them; and finally, after many, many years and various trials, God kept His promise to them and gave them a son. How excited they must have been! I can only imagine how they doted on and protected this young boy. Oh, how proud they must have been!
Then, out of the blue, God asked Abraham to offer his only son on the altar as the ultimate sacrifice. Abraham’s heart must have ached deeply as he marched off to the mountains with his servants and his son, knowing that he would need to offer him up to God on the altar once they arrived at their destination. When Isaac asked his father, …Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? I imagine Abraham cried inside, but he answered, …My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:…
I believe that Abraham was still holding out hope that God would not allow him to sacrifice his son. Even though he was hoping within himself that he would not need to offer his son as a sacrifice on the altar, he was still willing to follow through and obey the Lord. He was willing to let go and let God have His way.
What God spoke to me about is this: We all have things that we hold on to in this life. There are comforts we enjoy, whether they be monetary or not, of which we just do not want to let go. Some of us enjoy being in a good position at our jobs and the luxury of receiving a hefty paycheck. We enjoy comfortable homes, cars, and other privileges that many people would love to have. Many are blessed with wonderful children who are involved in serving the Lord but are not so far away from their children that they are able to enjoy seeing them every now and then.
There is nothing wrong with any of these things in and of themselves, but we should never hold on so tightly to these things that we are not willing to let them go if God asks us to do so. We need to realize that nothing we have is really ours to begin with—not even our children. If He asks us to give up these things or turn them over to Him at some point in our lives, we need to be willing to do so, trusting that He knows what is best. More importantly, knowing that if we obey Him, we will receive His blessing on our lives! Now, if that is not a good reason to follow and obey God, I do not know what is!
by April Hernandez