Genesis 20:1-22:24
Oh Abraham … don’t you want to say that! Once again he decides to take matters into his own hands, and he tells King Abimelech Sarah is his sister (because he’s afraid the king will kill him to take Sarah as his own wife). He doubts God’s protection, and he’s forgotten God’s promise … to bring him a son, through Sarah, within the next year. Sarah must have been one hot 90 year old woman for Abraham to have been concerned about this! He says, “I figured this to be a godless place.” I love the reality … “But one night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, ‘You are a dead man, for that woman you took is married.’” God Himself appeared to this apparently godless king!
I love the opening verses of chapter 21:
Then the Lord did exactly what He had promised. Sarah became pregnant, and she gave a son to Abraham in his old age. It all happened at the time God had said it would.”
God always keeps His promises! Always … and it always happens exactly in the timing He promised. Sometimes, like in this case, it takes incredible faith to believe in the promise, because we see the obstacles (such as a 90 year old woman and a 100 year old man conceiving a child!)
Now, imagine, you’ve waited for so many years for this promised child, and one day God says to you,
Take your son, your only son – yes Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you.
What has always fascinated me about Abraham’s life is the number of times he’s doubted God, taken things into his own hands, challenged God (like yesterday in the story with Sodom and Gomorrah), yet this time, when God asks him to kill the son he’s waited so long to have, he does so without so much as question. Certainly not the response I would have! What has happened to Abraham? What has changed? Maybe he just finally realized God’s ways are higher than his ways, and he can trust God with his whole life … even the life of his son!
Just as Abraham is ready to kill Isaac on the altar, God stops him and tells him not to do it. Instead, Abraham looks up and there is a ram caught in the bushes (once again … perfect timing!) Here we see another name of God given … Yaweh-yir’eh, or Jehovah Jireh as we may be more familiar with, which is what Abraham named that place … The Lord Will Provide.
Matthew 7:15-29
Maybe I’ll ruffle some feathers with this post, but what hits me in this passage is Jesus’ obvious emphasis on obedience.
Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)
We probably all know people like this (and there are times we, ourselves, act like this). It isn’t enough to say you are a Christian, or even to say to God, “You are my Master.” What God is looking for is our sold-out obedience.
Jesus then tells the parable of the wise and foolish man. Those who listen to His teachings are like the wise man who builds his house with a firm foundation. Those who ignore His teaching are like the foolish man who builds his house on sand.
Here’s a discussion question for you … the grace God has given us through Jesus’ death on the cross is free … if only we will receive that grace. Why, then, is our obedience important? Use the comments to give your thoughts!
