Isaac

God promised Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars. And when Isaac was born Abraham loved him. As Isaac grew Abraham's love deepened until, as A. W. Tozer writes, "...at last the relationship bordered upon the perilous. It was then that God stepped in to save both father and son from the consequences of an uncleansed love." For this was precisely the moment when God told Abraham to take Isaac, the son he loved, lay him down and offer him as a burnt offering. God did not explain how the offspring of Abraham could be too numerous to count if Isaac was to die nor did Abraham ask. He simply believed and obeyed. He was willing to do whatever God asked of him. "He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the alter, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." Genesis 22:9b-10 God did spare Isaac's life and because of Abraham's obedience all nations on earth will be blessed through his offspring. Abraham was fully surrendered to God. A.W. Tozer puts it this way - "He had everything, but he possessed nothing. There is the spiritual secret. There is the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation." God knew how much Abraham loved Isaac; He even made mention of this love when He told Abraham to sacrifice his son. Notice that God did not ask Abraham to lay down just any thing; God asked for that which was most dear to him. We can only imagine the pain Abraham must have felt at the thought of having to sacrifice Isaac - and yet much blessing came because of his willingness. According to A. W. Tozer - "If we would indeed know God in growing intimacy, we must go this way of renunciation. And if we are set upon the pursuit of God, He will sooner or later bring us to this test.... So we will be brought one by one to the testing place, and we may never know when we are there. At that testing place there will be no dozen possible choices for us - just one and an alternative - but our whole future will be conditioned by the choice we make." Now, what about us? We all have our own "Isaac." And there is great pain in letting it go. For some of us it, too, is our children. We forget that the precious ones we are raising are only on loan to us - they belong to God. For some of us Isaac represents our goals and dreams, the things in life we want to accomplish. We can get so focused and set on our wants that we forget our lives are not our own - we forget they were bought with a price and that God has a plan for us. Our Isaac can also be simply the status quo - we love the routine and we hold tight to the security of the norm. Whatever our Isaac, we must lay it down. God will not bless us - nor bless others through us - if that which is most dear to us is not Him. We need to open our hands and hearts and give whatever it is back to God. May we have the strength to let our children make mistakes, feel pain and follow the path God has for them. May we always be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and change our goals when needed. May we let go of our security and routine in favor of a desire to light the world on fire with the love of Jesus Christ. May we lay our Isaac down.