The background for today’s devotion comes from Genesis 22.
Some people look at My test of Abraham’s faith and decide they could never measure up, so they give up. But they don’t understand Me or what I do in helping My children grow in their trust in Me. I don’t test everyone in the same way. Nor do I want anyone to fail any test I give them. I want to act as a good teacher so all who follow Me learn well and pass every exam.
I knew when I asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son he had a high probability of passing My extreme test of his faith. I watched him through his life and knew his trust had grown to the point of complete obedience to Me. I knew he often didn’t understand what I asked of him, but he followed My will without question. I knew he trusted Me to see him through this task also.
If you look at his conversation with his servants and with Isaac, you see his trust shining through. When he left his servants at the bottom of the mountain, he told them, “We will worship, and then WE (meaning he and his son) will come back and meet you here.” Abraham didn’t know how, but he knew I would make a way of escape somehow.
As Isaac carried the wood for the fire to top of the mountain and helped Abraham build the altar that day, he asked about the ram for the sacrifice. Abraham’s answer, “God will provide.” Again, he didn’t know how I would do it, but he had faith in Me. He trust I would fulfill My promises to him and held on to that truth to the end. Even as he tied his son and placed him on the altar and reached for the knife to plunge it into his heart, he trusted Me.
My test for Abraham was extreme. He was prepared to take an extreme exam. As the patriarch of My chosen people, I needed someone who others could look to that could take such an extreme test. I prepared him for it throughout his life to that point. He was ready. He’d had plenty of practice leading up to it.
I will test you, too. But never past the limits of your ability to handle it. I never want you to fail. You can choose to fail, but you never need to fail. You can ask for My help. My tests are always open book. You can always ask the teacher for help. I will always give you the answers. You may not always like them, but I will give them to you. I promise. Trust Me to the end. It always pays off.
Ready – Genesis 22
Set – Genesis 22; Luke 8
Go! – Genesis 20-22; Luke 8
Genesis 22
After a period of time, God decided to put Abraham to the test.
Eternal One: Abraham!
Abraham: I am right here.
Eternal One: 2 Take your son, your only son Isaac whom I know you love deeply, and go to the land of Moriah. When you get there, I want you to offer Isaac to Me as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. I will show you which one.
3 Abraham did as he was told. Early in the morning he got up, saddled his donkey, and taking two of his trusted servants with him and his son Isaac, he cut the wood for the burnt offering and traveled to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of the journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place far in the distance.
Abraham (to his servants): 5 Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to meet you here.
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and set it on the shoulders of his son Isaac to carry. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. The two of them walked on together.
Isaac (to Abraham): 7 Father!
Abraham: I am right here, Son.
Isaac: Look, we have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
Abraham: 8 God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.
The two of them continued to walk on together.
9 When they finally arrived at the place God had shown him, Abraham took some stones and built an altar there and arranged the wood carefully on top of it. Then he bound up his son Isaac with rope and laid him on the altar on top of the stack of wood. 10 Just as Abraham reached over to grab the knife that would kill his son, 11 the special messenger of the Eternal One called his name from heaven.
Special Messenger: Abraham! Abraham!
Abraham: I am right here!
Special Messenger: 12 Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to harm him. I know now that you respect the one True God and will be loyal to Him and follow His commands, because you were willing to give up your son, your only son, to Me.
13 Abraham glanced up and saw a ram behind him with its horns caught in the thicket. He went over, dislodged the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 From that day forward, Abraham called that place, “The Eternal One will provide.” Because of this, people still today say, “On the Mount of the Eternal, all will be provided.”
15 The special messenger of the Eternal One called out to Abraham yet a second time from heaven.
Special Messenger: 16 Listen to the solemn vow the Eternal One has spoken: “Because you have done what I asked and were willing to give up your son, your only son, 17 I will reaffirm My covenant of blessing to you and your family. I will make sure your descendants are as many as the stars of the heavens and the grains of sand on the shores. I reaffirm My earlier promises that your descendants will possess the lands and sit in the gates of their enemies, 18 and from your descendants all the peoples of the earth will discover true blessing. All this is because you have obeyed My voice.
19 Then Abraham returned to the place where he left his trusted servants. They traveled together—Abraham, Isaac, and his servants—back to Beersheba where Abraham lived on for some time.
20 After this happened, Abraham was informed that Milcah had also given birth to many children by his brother, Nahor. 21 Uz was the firstborn, then came his brother Buz, Kemuel (Aram’s father), 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Nahor, Abraham’s brother, had eight children in all by Milcah. 24 Not only that, but Nahor’s concubine (whose name was Reumah) also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.