Faith and Obedience

1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” 2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

As a mom of an only son, I can only imagine the thoughts that Abraham had when God tested his obedience by calling for the sacrifice of his son. There was no arguing, no debating, no whining - God tested Abraham and Abraham was obedient. His obedience that called for the ultimate sacrifice, but Abraham was willing. He loved and feared God so much, that there wasn't a question about whether he would do what God had asked. To have such a faith! I wrestle at times with just the simple things God asks me to do - forgiving someone who has hurt me, stepping out when I'm not sure what comes next, or wrestling to have things my way. Not Abraham.

There's one common theme I'm taking away from Scripture as I read right now - the obedience of His people. Move here, drop this, don't wed these people - wed only from these, leave here and go there, sacrifice what you know for the unknown. The list goes on and on. Why is it so hard for me? I know I'm not the only one that struggles with this type of obedience - but picture for a moment what that kind of obedience might look like in our society today.

If God's people really listened for and to God - and actually did what He asked. I seriously have a hard time imaginging what that might look like. Just one simple statistic continues to blow my mind. Over Christmas our church played the following video. Watch it and think about how obedience could completely alter our world.




Obedience. It's not simple, but it's life-altering, barrier-shattering, God-honoring, and world-changing.