One thing that is true about faithfulness is that it requires sacrifice. For example, to be committed to health requires sacrificing time and often sleep to exercise. It also requires sacrificing some unhealthier food that we might enjoy, for the betterment of our health. On a much larger scale, Scripture makes it clear that faithfulness to God requires sacrifice too. One person in Scripture who understood this well was Abraham.
God tested Abraham to see if he was willing to make an unbelievable sacrifice in Genesis 22. He spoke to Abraham and said, “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you” (verse 2). Now, it is important to know here that God never intended for Isaac to be sacrificed, but instead, this was a test of obedience and faithfulness to God. After years of learning, this was Abraham’s final exam.
Following these instructions from God, Abraham took Isaac to the mountain. His servants were there too. When they were close to their destination, Abraham said to his servants, “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back" (verse 5). Abraham expected to return from the mountain with his son. When they were heading to make the sacrifice, Isaac noticed that they did not have a lamb to sacrifice. When he asked Abraham about it, Abraham said, “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son” (verse 8). Abraham knew God had a plan, and He did. As Abraham was preparing to sacrifice Isaac, suddenly an angel stopped him. “'Don’t lay a hand on the boy!’ the angel said. ‘Do not hurt him in any way, for now, I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son’” (verse 12). God was testing Abraham to see if he would be willing to sacrifice anything for Him. Abraham proved that he withheld nothing from God. Next, God provided a ram right in front of them caught up in a thicket for them to sacrifice. Just as God provided for Abraham, He provides for you and me as well.
Abraham proved His faithfulness to God by being willing to give up his son. God also proved His faithfulness by providing a ram in the thicket for Abraham and Isaac to sacrifice. God’s faithfulness was a picture of what was to come. You see, years and years later, God provided Jesus as a sacrificial lamb to die for the sins of the world taking our place. Abraham never sacrificed his son, but God did. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice. We have to trust in God just as Abraham did. God always has a plan and He always will provide.
Take some time to pray. Ask God to reveal anything He might be calling you to sacrifice. These things He reveals may not necessarily be bad, but they may be taking the place in your life that only God deserves. After praying, ask God for the courage and wisdom to lay down whatever He calls you to make that sacrifice.
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.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.
