I WANT YOUR HEART!

We come to a very well known passage of Scripture this morning in our reading through the Bible chronologically. Abraham has been given his son, Isaac. He is the promised child. The one whom God said Abrahams offspring would come through. Isaac was a miracle child. And Abraham loved Isaac. He loved Him a lot. Rightfully so.

Have you ever wanted something so badly, and then you FINALLY got it? All of you know that I like pens. I don’t know why, but I just do! I always wanted a Mont Blanc. It is a very popular and well known pen brand. I kept telling my wife that I wanted one! And one day, after we had saved up a little bit here and there, I finally had my long sought after pen. It was awesome, and still is. That feeling of finally having what I wanted for so long was great! Now, on a greater scale, that is how Abraham is feeling about Isaac. He wanted a child for so long, and now he finally had him!

We come to chapter 22, and in the first 2 verses, God tells Abraham to take Isaac up the Mount Moriah, and to sacrifice him. That thing Abraham wanted for so long, and finally had, God has now asked him to give it up.

Often times in our lives, we will find that the thing we wanted for so long, can become a stumbling block. We will want it and worship that thing, instead of wanting and worshipping the One who allows us to have that thing. And I believe that God was testing Abraham here. He was seeing if Abraham loved Isaac more than he loved Him. Did Abraham worship the creation, more than he did the Creator?

I find it interesting what happens in verse 12 of chapter 22.

“Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

When we read this verse, we can come to one conclusion. The sacrificing of Isaac was a test.

GOD NEVER WANTED ISAAC, GOD WANTED ABRAHAMS HEART!

We need to realize that whatever we have in this life is because of God. He is our provider! And Abraham, for his whole life, had been tested and tried to get him to this point. Did he love his son, more than he loved God?

Take a look inward today! Look at all God has blessed you with, ad as yourself “Do I love this more than I love God!” The great thing is, God doesn’t necessarily want us to give our stuff up, He just wants us to love Him supremely! I will leave you with this quote: “God is not valued AT ALL, unless He is valued ABOVE ALL.”