Isaac and Abraham, models of obedience – 23 August 2021

God’s command could not have made any sense to Abraham. In Genesis 17, God had promised him that through this only heir, Abraham and his descendants were to be blessed and that Sarah would be the mother of nations. How would this be possible if he was to sacrifice his only son?

Despite this Abraham trusted God and responded in obedience. Isaac too knew the love of his father and trusted him enough to follow his instructions. Abraham modelled obedience to God for Isaac to see. If his father said that God would provide, that was enough.

They did not know God’s plan, but they trusted God to be in charge. By faith “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11:19)

It is hard to trust God when we do not understand his plan, when we cannot make sense of what God is calling us to do. We’d rather preserve the illusion that we are in charge of our lives. We want God to work things out according to our plans, but that is not the way God works. God asks us to trust him and to obey.

Can we model obedience even when life does not make sense? Others look at our lives to see if we really live by the words we say. Do we model lives of obedience for others to see?

Prayer: Lord, help me to know you more each day and to trust you to care for me. Let my life be characterized by obedience to you so that others may be drawn to you. Amen.