Sacrifice laid in His Mighty Hand

1“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”

Genesis 22:1-3

What must have been going through Abraham’s mind when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac? Knowing how much he loved his son Isaac, how could God ask him to give him up? It is interesting that Abraham is not recorded as saying anything in response, but his actions showed his willingness to obey immediately.

As a loving father, I imagine it cannot have been easy. But perhaps by now Abraham had learned, like Job did, that God has the right to give, and to take away. Just as God had graciously given Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, He had every right to take him away.

In the end, seeing Abraham’s faith and obedience, God the loving Father himself provided the sacrifice, so that Abraham did not need to. And he blessed Abraham and his descendants, and along with them, all the nations of the earth.

Sometimes, the Lord may call us to obey even when we don’t full understand His plan. We may wrestle with it, thinking, “God knows how much this means to me, how can He ask me to give it up?” But if we know that everything already belongs to Him, and that He alone knows what is best for us, what right do we have to hold anything back? Most of all, if we know that God himself already made the ultimate sacrifice for us – sending Jesus, His only Son, to die for our sins – why can’t we trust His heart for us? In the words of missionary C.T. Studd, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

By Jan Choo, Assistant Pastor