Friday morning devotions...

Today's verses are Genesis 22:15-19 which read,

15 - Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 
16 - and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this things and have not withheld your son, your only son, 
17 - indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 
18 - In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
19 - So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.

It is a second call from heaven because the first call was to "Stop!" (my paraphrase from a parent's point of view of being asked to offer my child, my only child up as a sacrifice).  Abraham was asked to obey God's instruction and many times we ask "why" would God ask him to do this?

The reason came out many years later (about 2000+) in another Father giving His only Son as a sacrifice for the world.  Abraham walking through this action of obedience gave us a picture of what God would ultimately do by sending His Son to this world in the manger and the care of Joseph and Mary.  Abraham's obedience to what God said to do spoke larger than just the event that was at hand.

Our obedience to God does the same today.  Our obedience to God speaks larger than just the event that we are being obedient about.  It is because we are being obedient to God.  God uses that to be a witness of Him.  It will not be put in the canon of Scripture for all to read for generations to come but on a smaller scale you have people (friends, family, coworkers) around you that observe that obedience.  I guess in our media world, your obedience to God could be viewed my millions on social media but first comes our obedience to what God has said.

God has not asked us to obey Him this way with taking our children up a mountain and then stopping us just in time to send a message to the world about One to come ("By Myself I have sworn,...In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,...").  But God has asked us to be "living sacrifices" of Him to our world to testify that the Savior has come and is coming again.  Being a "living sacrifice" requires obedience that God will use to draw mankind unto Himself.

When tempted to be disobedient or obedient to God, think about the witness that will be lost or gained by which direction you decide.  It is always bigger than the situation that is in front of you.  Always.

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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