Acting on Faith Reveals It’s Authenticity...

Every time I read the account of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice Isaac my mind starts a mental gymnastics routine. Why would God ask Abraham to do this? He condemns child sacrifice throughout scripture. How could Abraham do it? It wouldn’t make sense unless God was going to resurrect Isaac. How could Abraham sacrifice the very thing he longed for AND the one God told him He would bless all the nations of the world through (Isaac). None of this makes sense. However, I believe Abraham trusted God with whatever method He would choose to use, so that His promise of blessing would come to pass. It does say in chapter 21 verse two, “she became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would.” Abraham had evidence of God’s promises coming true. He may not have known the details of the outcome, but he did know Who was in charge of it. When we read Abraham telling his servants, “The boy and I will travel a little further. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.” He must’ve known something. He wouldn’t lie to his servants. What would he gain by doing that? There was no motive to lie. And when he told Isaac, “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son”, he had to have known more than the text reveals. He wouldn’t make these kinds of statements out of blind faith. Abraham’s faith in God, be it great or small, was only as good if he acted on it. It’s like the motto in exercise, “use it or lose it”. Faith is the same way, “great or small, it only works if you act on it”. Is your faith great or small? Do you act on it? This is a great lesson for me because I always want security in knowing the “why” or “how” of things. Here Abraham acted on his faith without knowing the “why”. Sometimes we just have to “DO”, and figure out the “why” later. Understanding doesn’t always come in the midst of the storm. Faith is what gets us through the turbulent times. Abraham’s faith is a model we all should pattern ourselves after. True faith in God is showing Him we are willing to do whatever He asks, regardless of the cost. Acting on your faith is more important than just talking about it. God knows when we are sincere. It’s not until we are willing to sacrifice what’s means most to us that our faith becomes the most real.

9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from Me even your son, your only son.”13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” Genesis 22:9-14