“Now
I Know That You Fear God”
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.”
Genesis 22:1-12
We
sometimes think back to the time when our children were young, and we would go
into their bedrooms and gently wake them up.
Think
about the morning Abraham got up to wake his child Isaac. Abraham truly
believed it would the last time he woke his child up.
Think
about how agonizing it was for God to then give up His own Son, His only Son,
whom He loved! And He went through that because He loves you.
If
you wonder whether you are loved by God, wonder no more.
God has already proven His love for you.
Our
Daily Bread – June 8, 2015