"Whom You Love"

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”---Gen.22:2 Last year I did devotions from verses that had the word “now” in them using the ESV translation. This year I am doing the same with the word “love” from the NASB. It’s a different type of study that forces me to slow down and focus as well as viewing a different English translation in a year’s time. --- Follow along if you like. The first time we find the word “love” in the Bible is when the LORD God tells Abraham to take his his one and only son, Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice to the LORD. Now, the text is clear that God was testing Abraham (see the previous verse) and did not intend for him to kill his son. God’s promise to Abraham was tied up in this son, so this was a big deal. God wanted to see if Abraham trusted God to this extreme. —- I believe this little test was more than just for Abraham though. For the doubters, us, thousands of years later would need to see the faith and the promise exercised for us to be able to believe as well. —- More importantly, this was a foreshadowing of what was to come as the Father sent the Son to die on the cross for our sin for our redemption. —- No doubt this was a confusing test for Abraham, but he learned to trust the Promise-Keeper over the promise. He knew that if God said He was going to do something, then God would do it. —- When we are walking in the Spirit, we can trust that God will get us to where He wants us to go even when we cannot figure out how. Just trust and obey.—- It was in his obedience that he learned that not only could God be trusted, but God was able to provide a substitute at just the right time for the sacrifice. --- Trust God with who and what you love for He is worthy!