[Shepherding the sheep with One heart] Abraham who feared God

  • 2017.10.07 15:12


Abraham immediately obeyed God's command to sacrifice Isaac, the son he received when he was 100 years old. When Abraham put Isaac on the altar and pulled out the sword and was about to strike his beloved son, God urgently said.

 

"...Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (Genesis 22:11-12)

 

God acknowledged Abraham's faith in his obedience. If we fear God like Abraham, we give thanks, volunteer, and obey whatever command God gives. On the other hand, if there we have no appreciation and fear of God, even though God commands us to do something, we feel bored and annoyed, and will only obey reluctantly. 

 

Abraham gave his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice out of his fear of God. He received God’s grace. What grace had he received? Abraham was in despair when he was in the idol city, Ur of the Chaldeans. If God had not led him out of there, he would not have been able to escape the curse and destruction there.

 

Abraham obeyed God's word and left his country, his people and his father's household and went to the land which the Lord showed him.
Abraham was deeply grateful for the grace of the Lord wherever he went. The reason why Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, immediately was because he trusted in the grace of the Lord.

 

What about our faith? Jesus Christ saved us from sin, curse and hell to save our lives! We should be faithful even to the point of death without sparing our lives, because of His work on the cross. We should give thanks to the Lord for the grace given to us daily, and we should be faithful for the health given to us. If we ask, “What did the Lord give us, that we should give thanks to Him?”
we don’t acknowledge the Lord. When we don’t fear the Lord and ignore Him, we should bear in mind that we will not only lose precious time, but also we will be miserable in the time of our souls.

 

 

Pator Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from the church newspaper #535 (July 08, 2017)