What Is Your Isaac?

Finally!
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He'd waited over a hundred years, but there he was. The fulfillment of the Promise! A son.
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From that moment on, nothing was more precious to Abraham than that little boy. He taught him how to wrap his baby hands around a staff, how to treat the servants, and how to love his mother.
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Thank you, God. Thank you! The praise must have flowed continually from Abraham's heart as he delighted in his wonderful son. The promised son.
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And then the command: Give him to Me.
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Abraham's stomach clenched. Surely he'd misheard. God couldn't mean that, could he? Why would he ask such a thing? Why, after all he'd gone through to get this boy? Anything else, Lord. You can have anything else, but please not that.
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The crossroads.

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Abraham had a choice to make, the same choice we all make. To obey God or to turn away and follow what feels right to us. To say "I'll go this far with you, God, but no farther. I can't go there."
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We know the story, how Abraham took his son to the mountain and prepared to offer him there as a sacrifice to God. But God intervened and did not require it of him after all. But Abraham didn't know that when he went. He had no idea how this would turn out, but he knew he trusted God more than he trusted his own heart.
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What about you? What is your Isaac?
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We all have that little area of life where we're afraid to let go. God might require it of us and we don't know that we could give it up. Anything else, Lord. You can have everything else, but not that. Please, not that.
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So why did God choose Abraham's beloved son as the sacrifice? Abraham was wealthy and famous. There were so many other things God could have requested.
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God knew Abraham's heart. This was the most precious thing in his life and if he could offer Isaac to God, he would withhold nothing. He could be trusted. His faith was secure, his hope unwavering and his love for God was unshaded by anything on earth.
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What about you? What earthly love shadows your devotion to God? Is it your children? Your home? Your career? Your future plans? What is it that you believe deep down that you cannot entrust to God because he might require it of you and you couldn't handle that?
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Anything we withhold from God becomes our god. That precious thing we keep back when offering our hearts will rise up to take a greater place in our hearts than it should. It becomes an idol and God will not tolerate idolatry in any form. Abraham proved to himself that God was the only God in his life and from then on, God could use him to accomplish amazing things.
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What might God want to do through you, if only you would place your Isaac on the altar? What peace and joy might be ready to flood your heart the moment you let go of your idol? What power might flow from God's hand to yours when you unclench your fist and give him what is most precious to you?
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What is your Isaac?
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