Genesis 22:2-3
²Then He said, “Take now 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.” ³So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
In the somber shadows of Mountain Moriah stood Abraham, His son Isaac bound to be slain for a sacrifice, as God had demanded. I can only imagine, that the same God who gave him a child in his old age is now asking Abraham to give him up, and to make it clear God says, “Take your only son whom you Love.”
God is interested in what you love, how far can you love Him for what you love, how deeply can you trust Him with Your life and affairs and know that He is God and is incharge?
John the Baptist served God but lived on a diet of locusts and honey, dressed in camel’s hair, and lived an isolated way, and Elijah lived a similar life (Mathew 3:4, Kings 1:8). Being the greatest men, they could have served in the King’s palace and put on the fanciest clothes at the time, nevertheless, they did not! Hosea could have married the most beautiful virgin girl but he married a prostitute, name it!
To serve God involves sacrifice; tell me a man who serves God without sacrifice. Show me one and it will be a wonder, a startle because before He called you to serve He first sacrificed His one and only, the beloved (John 3:16). God the Father sacrificed His son and the son sacrificed His very life; left His luxury, and thus scripture says, He was made a little lower than the angels were. Amazing right, a sacrifice for a sacrifice!
Mark 10:45 ESV
⁴⁵For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Therefore, to serve God and think you will not sacrifice is yet another unreasonable notion. Firstly, you sacrifice that which you love most and put him at the forefront before family, before friends, your career, and more so yourself in general. To sacrifice is therefore to live a life set apart to God and involves obedience to God’s will and putting others first before yourself.
Philippians 2:3-4 ESV
³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Sacrifice may be hard but the results are worth it. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son and by that mere fact, he was blessed. How much more would those who sacrifice in worship of God! (Ephesians 1:17-23).
How deep is your love, how deep is your commitment to God? Are you holding on to certain things you should have let go? If He found you worth His son’s sacrifice, how much more should you find Him worthy of your sacrifice?(Your life)
Genesis 22:16-18 kjv
¹⁶And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: ¹⁷That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Prophetic Utterance:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I, who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
I am the beloved of the Lord yet not my will but His be done.
Halleluya.
Guiding Text:
Mark 10:45 ESV
⁴⁵For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Romans 12:1
¹I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service