He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Gen 22:12
God had promised to give Abraham a son in His old age. He waited for 25 years before the son was given. After raising up, he became the darling of his heart. He loved his son more than everything he owned, more than even Sarah herself. God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice. Gen 22:2.
“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.”
God didn't force Abraham to make a hasty decision. He gave him time to think about it.
On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Gen 22:4
The journey took three days. Along the journey Abraham was thinking; is it worthy to serve a God like this. Day and night the thoughts are going on in his mind, and could have turned back afterwards but He had made up His mind; that it's worthy to serve a God who asks me to sacrifice the thing that I love most.
He will not let anything he loved, and even something that God gave as a promise to come between him and God.
He gave up the thing that cost him everything.
Even when he reached, God waited untill he made the alter, prepared the firewood and laid the son on the alter and took out his knife to kill the son. When he took out the knife, in his mind he had already sacrificed the son. The actions always follow the mind.
It was only the the angel told him to stop. He was being tested whether he feared God.
God always tests his children to see whether they fear him.
You can pray, and God answers and then God asks you to sacrifice what he himself gave.
Has God ever asked you to sacrifice something dear to you, or to give up a certain friendship? To walk with God, he will always ask you to sacrifice what you love most, because it is usually the thing or person we love most that comes between us and God. God is a jealous God and He must have the first place in our lives in everything, and whatever may try to occupy that place must be sacrificed on the alter; Isaac, the one who we love most, though a gift of God, must be sacrificed so as to never have the uppermost position in any part of our being. God must be enthroned in our hearts.
The mark that one fears God is that he/she is willing to obey God in everything even when it hurts them.
If you only obey God when it's convenient, it's because you don't fear God. When you fear God you obey Him whether it's convenient or not. People may have misunderstood Abraham, even his wife, but he died to the opinions of men. He was not seeking to be understood by men but sought to obey God when it hurts most.
This act, Abraham called it worship. Gen 22:5
It's only a person who fears the Lord that truly worships Him. Worship is not about singing songs of worship, but it's offering our lives to God as a living sacrifice everyday. Choosing to sacrifice my will and obey God even when it hurts me, to walk in holiness. This is the way to please God. Rom 12:1. Offering our bodies means giving your tongue to only be speaking things that will glory God and sacrifice anything that the tongue may want to speak that doesn't glorify God.
You offer your eyes not to look at or read things that don't Glorify God. The eyes aren't for lusting after women but seeing the beauty of Christ.
To give your mind not to meditate on things that don't Glorify God but meditate on what glorifies God.
In the same way, the heart, the hands, the feet and all our being.
This is the sacrifice that God wants from you.
If the, Abraham decided to sell all his properties and animals and give to God, he could still be disobedient to God. Giving money to God as a substitute to obedience is worthless. God will not accept it.
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
It's only a man who fears God who truly worships Him. Not one who is moved to tears during the worship session in church. The best time to worship is when you are alone with God, obeying His voice no matter the cost.
You are blessed to be a blessing
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@Blessed Mshindi Mambo
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