B E H I N D / T H E / B A R

2 “Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about.

I know how that story turned out.  But Abraham didn’t.  We often talk about Abraham believing God, and I’m sure that Abraham believed God could do the impossible, that He could raise his son Isaac from the dead.  But he really had no way of KNOWING exactly what would happen when he went to sacrifice his son.  He simply had to trust.  I’ve thought a lot today about what it must have been like for Abraham the night before he would arrive to the place God had told him to go, where he would sacrifice his son.  Did he cry?  Did he feel sick on his stomach with dread?  Did He plead at all with God for another way?  Did he question whether He had been as grateful for his son?  (I would. . .  I have.)  Regardless of what he felt, as he laid himself down the night before, He had to also lay down those fears, worries and wonders.  Because ultimately He would have to lay down the very thing that God had called him to lay down – his son, on the altar.  This would be the place his faith would be tested, the place where his obedience would be credited to him as righteousness.

Its the night before.  Tomorrow we will sit in front of a judge to hear what will happen to a little guy we’ve lived with for exactly nine months.  Some say the decision is already made, but I believe God is the ultimate judge, He’ll make the final decision.

With that knowledge and conviction, we lay “it” down.