While in high school, I usually played one of two roles. I was either messing around, acting like a childish immature kid who wanted to take a break from being serious. Or I was the adult in the room later on in school, overwhelmed by my conscience asking my friends, “are you sure we should be doing this?” In the case of Abraham, God placed him into a scenario where he was forced to stop messing around in life.
After these events, God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. 2 [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you, Genesis 22:1-2.
When called by God to sacrifice the promised son that Abraham and his elderly wife waited decades to be fulfilled, he leaves before daybreak. Abraham doesn’t consult his wife about this matter as this isn’t a suggestion. After a sleepless night, Abraham mentally prepares himself for the journey that awaits. I can only imagine the thoughts going through Abe’s mind as he set out to sacrifice his beloved son.
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then began the trip to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, Genesis 22:3-4.
Looking back on my own life, I spent four years of college straddling the fence with one foot indulging my sinful nature and the other wanting to please God. There was one song that struck a nerve in my heart of my lukewarm spirit, Revelation 3:16. Ray Boltz in Feel the Nails uses the expression “stop playing games” in this chorus. While on a retreat in Friendship, Maryland, this song changed my life and brought me to a place like Abraham to stop messing around by taking my faith in Jesus serious.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 