May 11, 2006

The Word May 11, 2006
> Abraham, An Example of Obeying God when it makes
> no Human Sense.
> The Test
>
> -I am sure that most people have some
> knowledge of the story about Abraham and how God
> told him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Isaac was
> Abraham’s promised child, in Genesis 15:5 it states,
> “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now
> toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able
> to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy
> seed be.” So, God promises Abraham that his seed
> would be great in number. However, in Genesis 22:2,
> God tells Abraham to offer Isaac up as an offering,
> “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son
> Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land
> of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering
> upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee
> of.”
> -Why would God do this? Why would God
> promise him a child and then turn around and tell
> him to present his son as an offering? Since this
> was something that Abraham never had to do, many
> people believe that God was testing him. I believe
> that to be true as well. Nevertheless, I don’t
> believe that it was a test to show God what Abraham
> would do. God is all knowing. He already knew what
> he was going to do, even before he asked him to do
> it. It was a test to build Abraham’s faith.
> -Tests build faith. Without faith building test
> how would we know what God is able to do. If
> Abraham was never asked to sacrifice Isaac, then how
> would he ever understand the full power of God? By
> obeying what God told him to do the word says that
> Abraham would be blessed, “And in thy seed shall all
> the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou
> hast obeyed my voice.” Abraham obeyed God because of
> his faith in what God could do. He did not
> understand, I am sure, how God was going to multiply
> his seed if his only son was dead. His faith pleased
> God and opened up a blessing for him, “But without
> faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
> cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
> is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,”
> (Hebrews 11:6).
> Lord, give me the faith that I need to obey your
> word(s) no matter how extreme the order may be.