God Comes First
SCRIPTURE
Genesis 22:9-10, "9 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. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son."
OBSERVATION
I have read this passage many times and felt like I as a parent understood the agony that Abraham must have felt so bitterly because he was going to snuff out with his own hands a precious and only son that God gave him at 100 years old. Even worse,, this had to be doubly hard since Abraham literally walked in agony for three days. Then, he was forced to answer Isaac’s obvious question – where is the sacrifice? Abraham had to give him an answer that even he was unsure – “God will provide” – but he had to have acknowledged that nothing gave him any evidence to support his answer. God was silent all the way to Mount Moriah. It is one thing to verbally affirm my confidence in God who consistently provides goodness for my life but it is another to demonstrate my trust in his goodness and faithfulness by binding whatever is precious to me and put it on the altar, willing to let it go.
APPLICATION
How willing am I to put my most precious things, be it my children, possessions, reputation or pride, before God and demonstrate that God comes first? The toughest challenge is that God is often silent, until the point of death it seems, before his deliverance. I must have the faith and trust in God in order that God will do great things through my life.
PRAYER
Father God, I praise your holy name. Your name is great and your love endures forever. Thank you for all your blessings and promise in my life. May you strengthen my faith where I will have complete confidence regardless of what I see or my circumstances. I love you LORD. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.