F O O T H O L D
READING
23 WHO COMES FIRST
PRAY Enlighten my mind and
prepare my heart for your word today, O
Lord.
READ Genesis 22:119.
THINK How was Abraham able
to face this supreme test and give what was
asked?
FOCUS The great question
which every Christian has to face is this: Do
you value God more than
anything or anyone else? As we progress
through life, God teaches us
to value himself above everything
else. He also shows us how
we should view other things and other
people.
That is the point of this
story. The moral question of how God
could make the demand of the
sacrifice of Isaac has no easy
solution. What we see here,
however, is a peak of faith and love
in the life of Abraham.
IT WAS A TEST OF HIS
AFFECTIONS: 'your only son ... whom you love
so much' (2). It is easy to
idolise someone, and the tension that
can arise between the way
God is calling and another person
leading, is something that
many have had to face.
IT WAS A TEST OF HIS
AMBITIONS: Abraham had set his heart on
having an heir. And, Isaac
was the only child through whom all the
sweeping vision of a nation
and a land could be fulfilled. God
calls each of us to lay
aside our own ambitions and fall in with
his plans. It may mean
giving up our career prospects, or the new
house we wanted or ...
IT WAS A TEST OF HIS ACTION:
it is one thing to say you put God
above everything, it is
another thing to act. How hard that must
have been in the face of the
child's questions (68). Putting God
first in practice may often
be hard and painful. But, if we do it,
we will be led into a new,
deeper relationship with God.
PRAY Ask God to help you to
put him first in your life.
