The other day, God brought to my mind the story of Abraham and Isaac at 5 am. He started revealing and speaking to me.
This is a well-known story that we all have heard many times, and that It's often misunderstood and misjudged.
How many of you have been told or asked by unbelievers that God is unjust, cruel, selfish, arrogant or evil based on this one story of the Bible? How many of you have perhaps, even come to think this very thing as children? When in reality, If we really stop to think, we will quickly realize that all of this goes against the character of God and His precepts.
God's purpose was never for Isaac to die.
However, this used to be a story that I, as a child, could not fully understand. Because then again, if Isaac should not die, why demmand something like that and ask Abraham to do it? And why would God, in any case, ask for something so horrible in the first place?
How is He able to sue something like that? With what purpose? Let's explore the purpose behind it!
A reason behind everything.
God asks Abraham something extremely painful and unthinkable for any father or mother; to offer his own son as a burnt offering.
But, finally, God ends up providing a lamb and tells him through an angel not to touch nor hurt Isaac.
This story is always approached from the perspective that it was a test of faith and trust. But this is a factor or characteristic common to almost any story in the Bible, since God never usually asks for easy things, and most of the time we do not fully know His plans or comprehend His will so we must walk blindly and with boldness.
So, it seems to me that this is an inappropriate way of approaching this story, because it goes much further, and that is how God showed me:
1. God wanted us to see the great pain and suffering that it meant for Him to deliver His Son, in a tangible way so that we can understand.
What better way than to exemplify it and make us put ourselves in His place?
In this way we would also come to understand the seriousness of sin and its consequences, it makes us see that it is not something that can go unpunished or something that God takes lightly.
It is not difficult to empathize with Abraham's possible thoughts, feelings, confusion and fear. It is something that any father or mother can understand, you don’t even have to be a parent to relate to it.
But God goes even further and takes it to another level, to the extreme as Abraham's situation is special and extraordinary, not just like any other father:
For Abraham, Isaac means everything.
He is the answer and fruit of arduous and long prayers, it was a miracle in the midst of their old age and in the midst of Sara's inability to conceive. Isaac is their greatest dream and longing, the most precious thing their had... and that now however, it had to be snatched away.
Abraham surely would not understand why God would ask him now to sacrifice what He himself promised and gave him, knowing first-hand the effort, suffering and waiting that it entailed for Abraham (and Sarah).
But what he didn't know is that God wouldn't let him do it, and that He would end up providing the real offering. God intention was never to harm Isaac.
2. A glimpse of what was to come.
All of this story is a reflection and foreshadowing of Jesus' death and His power to redeem us.
God stops Abraham just at the moment he was about to sacrifice Isaac and not before, why?
We need to understand God never does something for the sake of it, there is always a motive behind. God wanted to teach us something with it.
God could have stopped him long before: when He saw that he took his son, when they were heading towards the place he had told him, when they finished climbing the mountain... Think about it, if the purpose was merely to test Abraham's faith, it would already have been proven that way!
That would have been enough, God would have seen that Abraham was willing to follow Him no matter what, at any cost. That he would do anything for God, if God asks him to.
So… Just a test of faith?
God stopped Abraham at the moment he was going to sacrifice Isaac and not before for a reason and purpose and this is what He revealed to me:
• Isaac represent us.
Sinners who cannot be an accepted offering.
• And Jesus, who represents that white lamb that God ends up providing to Abraham.
The lambs offered for sacrifice had to meet a series of requirements, they were even raised and cared for in specific places different from those of the rest of the flock. They couldn't be sick, or have broken bones, they couldn’t be blind, or have any kind of blemish or defect.
Jesus is the pure, clean and unblemished lamb who is able to carry out the sacrifice that Isaac could not complete.
It is a representation of salvation in Jesus.
God teaches us in a tangible and graphic way that our human minds can understand the love and pain that He has in having to give up His Son and the seriousness of sin. He also teaches us, it can only be done by Him.
LOVE AND SUFFERING.
In particular, in this speacific message I felt that God wanted me to focus on the perspective of His great love for us, and the immense pain and sacrifice that it meant in turn.
He wanted us to understand the price, the cost, the delivery, the pain, the expression of love from Him to us. This is the main/focal point of the entire story; the love and suffering involved for God to give his Son as our sacrifice.
He wanted us to see that.
BUT THAT IS NOT ALL.
He keep revealing to me and made me understand that Isaac, at the same time, represents the sacrifices we must make as believers in order to sanctify ourselves, to serve Him...
Isaac is that constant and daily decision and sacrifice of carrying our cross, of putting to death what kills us.
Sin, salvation, following Jesus... is not a game and it has a price.
There are different types and levels of sacrifices, from the smallest to the largest.
For each one of us it might be different, we could have some in common as believers but we won’t all have to sacrifice the same things, because God does not demand the same from all of us as we do not all go through the same processes or the same struggles, and we are all unique and different from each other.
But something’s clear, we all must do sacrifices.
Perhaps your sacrifice is to learn how to forgive something or someone that hurt you in the past to show love and restoration in the name of Jesus, perhaps it is to reduce the hours you spend on the internet wasting time instead of investing it to grow in Him, perhaps there are things that you should leave behind that used to be part of your life but no longer correspond to the life you want to live in Christ (friendships, relationships, lifestyle, beliefs or ideologies, substances, music, a comfortable life, social acceptance, your popularity or reputation...), maybe it's your dreams, talking to or helping someone nobody wants to get close to, enduring teasing and showing kindness and love even in complicated situations, staying abstinent or having to leave your family in the future in order to serve Him...
I don't know, as I said, everyone has a story and something different to deal with. But, I invite you to examine yourself and analyze what your areas and sacrifices are or need to become:
What would you give knowing and considering that God has given everything for you without hesitating not even for a second?
You love God yes, but how much. How much are you willing to love?
Love has a cost. To love is to give, to love is to make an effort, to love is to sacrifice, to love is more then words... This is not to point out, judge or make anyone feel bad, but to encourage you and make you reflect on the sacrifices you are making and those you should make.
What weak areas in your life are you neglecting?
It is okay if you feel that you are not at the level you would like or should be, the important thing is that you realize it and work on it. Forgive yourself, your past.. embrace your process and transformation.
THAT is what God wants. Not that you beat yourself up or mortify yourself for it, but that you become aware and take action and responsibility, that you respond to it and not leave it in a mere passing feeling. It is okay if you do not feel prepared to surrender certain areas of your life yet, it is not easy; invest in your relationship with God, get to know Him and ultimately, learn to rely on Him.
What things have you stopped giving to God? What things does it cost you or is it costing you to deliver to Him? What sacrifices are you having to make for Him? How are you carrying your cross?
It is important for us to think deeply in all of this questions in order to grow.
This was today's devotional, that we reflect on our personal daily sacrifices in any area of our lives to follow or serve Jesus.
I invite you and dare you to think about it in a moment you have during the day, to spend some time with God and in prayer, to meditate on it, analyzing all those areas of your life and your daily sacrifices (personal, spiritual, etc).
Even better if you write it down so that it is something that you really take seriously. Record it, make it a decision.
I pray that this message has been a blessing and has touched your hearts and minds, that the message and the spirit speak to each one of you in a personal and individual way, that God anoints you and gives you the necessary strength to carry out those sacrifices diaries. I pray that God shows you what He wants from you, guides you and always covers you with His love, peace and wisdom❤️🩹
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