More to Life
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“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.” Hebrews 11:17
I remember the joy that my husband and I felt as we held each of our newborn children in our arms for the first time. They were gifts from God, and we cherished all three of them. We dedicated them to the Lord and did our best to raise them to love and serve Him.
As a parent, I can imagine how Abraham must have felt when the Lord told him that he must sacrifice his son. Isaac was the child that God had promised him and Sarah and that they had waited so long for. Now he was becoming a young man and was their pride and joy. But he did not question God, just arose immediately to go where God had told him.
Somehow Abraham had faith that if he were to slay his son, somehow God would raise him from the dead to fulfill all the promises. His faith is clearly expressed in Genesis 22:5 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.”
Genesis 22:7-8 “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together”
Abraham was an old man, and Isaac was young and strong. Yet he willingly submitted to being bound and put on the altar, trusting his father knew what he was doing. And God intervened, providing a ram in the thicket to take Isaac’s place.
God does not ask us to sacrifice our children, but He does require that we place them on the altar, realizing that they are just on loan to us. It is our responsibility to train them when they are young and teach them the right way to live. We pray for them and with them. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide them as they become adults, and we support them as they choose their careers. Then we release them into God’s hands, having faith that He is in control.
Our prayer for each of our children should be as David’s prayer in Psalm 144:12 “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.”
Devotion by Anne Johnston
