Genesis 22:1-18 | Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. – 2 Corinthians 9:7
The late Kobe Bryant is considered one of the greatest basketball players ever. In his drive to become the best, he reportedly slept only about four hours each night. He said, “There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something . . . there are sacrifices that come along with that.”
Sacrifice helps us to accomplish not only our major life and career goals but also contributes to our hopes of pleasing God.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, instead of questioning Him, Abraham prepared to do as God called him to do. As he was about to slay his son, an angel of God stopped him and said, “‘Do not lay a hand on the boy,’ . . . ‘Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son” (Genesis 22:12). Abraham honored God’s command to sacrifice what he had waited so many decades to receive, the son Sarah had born, the child of the promise Abraham cared so much about. God saw Abraham’s heart of faith and blessed him.
Although God asked Abraham to sacrifice something he treasured, God didn’t leave him hanging. God provided a ram to sacrifice in the place of Isaac. We can be comforted by the fact that God always has our backs. Anything that we sacrifice for His will can be restored and is small in comparison to what God has provided for us. —Nia Caldwell
What sacrifices are you making right now in order to obey God?
Dear God, I don’t want to miss out on what You have planned for me due to my inability to give things up. Open my heart to give what You call me to so that I can live according to Your truth.