Obedience

This morning's sermon was in Genesis 22. The chapter about Abraham being obedient and taking Isaac to be sacrificed. We've all heard the message and read the story many times so what made today different for me? Pastor Troy remarked on the fact that for Abraham to obey God and take Isaac to Mount Moriah, he had was on a journey for 3 days. 30 miles away he knew what the end of this journey would bring, the sacrifice and ultimately the death of dear Isaac. Or did he? When they got to the base of the mountain, he left his servants and told them to stay there, that he and the boy were going to worship and "we will return". Was that hope in
Abraham's heart that God would ultimately provide a different sacrifice?

As a parent I wonder what was going on in Abraham's mind those 3 days. Was he full of angst? Did he dote on Isaac? Did he proceed with joy and carry on as though he had all faith that Isaac would return with him?

Pastor Troy asked "would I go the distance in order to obey?" What if Abraham had decided that somewhere just a few miles away would have been just as well? Would a sacrifice have been found in Isaac's place anywhere but where God told Abraham to go?

There has always been speculation about why God asked Abraham to do this, one of the thoughts being, was Isaac becoming a thing of worship in place of God in Abraham's life? I know that (before I had stepkids) if someone had asked me to die for my daughter's life, I would have done it. But if I had been asked to lay down her life, I don't know that I could do it. I guess you could say I felt a bit of conviction for that even today. The Bible says God won't ask us to carry more than we could handle but parents sometimes lose their children, it's a fact of life. So would I ever be asked to prove my obedience by losing one of the people (or when I contemplated this idea in the past, THE person) I love the most in the world?

We moved on to chapter 23, when Sarah died and Pastor commented that he would rather die before his wife so he wouldn't have to live without her but then realized how selfish that was of him for her to have to carry on without him. I almost chuckled...I decided a long time ago that Jeremey and I just needed to die together in our sleep when we are old so that we don't have to be without each other and the kids wouldn't be left as orphans if we died young. I have it all worked out. ;-)

I pray that if asked to give up one of the people that I love the most dearly, God would give me the peace to do it and if His will, to provide another way. His love for us the ultimate and I would be hard pressed to choose life or death between my children and husband who all love me. But it must have been so immense the pain God felt to give Jesus, His only son, for those who turn their backs on Him and what He did for them on the cross.

I had a dream a couple nights ago that I was hanging out with Jesus. We were just walking along, talking like old friends. I still see in my mind how it felt so natural to be in His presence. We weren't going anywhere in particular, He wasn't teaching, we were just talking. When I woke I wondered if I was dreaming like that because of the series I've been reading about Jesus' life. I told Jeremey about it today and he said "Well isn't that the way it should be?". That's right, Jesus and I just hanging out enjoying our friendship...that IS the way it should be right? :)