Abandoning all

“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.” (Genesis 22:2 N.I.V)

In his unquestioned obedience to God, Abraham agreed to sacrifice his son Isaac whom he passionately loved. This proved to Abraham that his faith had matured to a level where he loved God above everything else in the world; above the son on whom he had pinned so much hope for the future.  And Isaac, he lay on the altar, trussed and ready to be sacrificed because he loved and trusted his father and in the God Almighty he had been taught to worship.  But in their obedience and giving all, they received eternal blessings from God and a substitute sacrificial ram was provided. For Abraham it was like receiving Isaac again from the dead. He learnt that when we obey the Lord, he will provide; he is Jehovah Jireh. “…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.” Genesis 22:14

Only the Lord can provide our security in life, not the Isaacs of our lives. “Self-preservation may be the first law of nature, but self-sacrifice is the highest rule of grace.” It is only by abandoning everything else for Christ that we receive the gift of heaven.

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“I exhort you and beseech you in the bowels of Christ, faint not, weary not. There is a great necessity of heaven; you must have it. All other things, as houses, lands, children, husband, friends, country, credit, health, wealth, honour, may be let go; but heaven is your one thing necessary, the good part that shall not be taken from you. See that you buy the field where the pearl is. Sell all, and make a purchase of salvation. Think it not easy; for it is a steep ascent to eternal glory; many are lying dead by the way, that were slain with security”. Samuel Rutherford

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