Daily Devotion, April 1, 2020

Devotion:

Read Genesis 22:1-12.

Abraham’s life story is told from Genesis 11:27-Genesis 25:18. Genesis 22 is a pivotal story in Abraham’s understanding of who God is.

Prior to this story, Abraham has learned that God is the God who calls and sends, the God who makes and keeps the covenant of relationship, the God who gives life, the God who calls for the practice of justice and

righteousness. And in Genesis 22, Abraham learns that this God is the God who provides.

It’s pivotal because this God whom Abraham has come to know tests Abraham’s devotion. We often think of tests on a “pass or fail” basis, but God’s tests are different. God’s tests refine us to open our eyes to see the strengths and grace which God has already given to us.

Terence E. Fretheim describes this passage’s emphasis on “seeing”. (The Hebrew word for “provides” comes from the root “to see”). “From a distance, Abraham sees the place where God told him to sacrifice Isaac and then, close up, he sees the ram provided at that very place. This process testifies to a progressively clearer seeing. Abraham places his trust in God’s seeing and that trust finally enables him to see the lamb of God that God has provided.”

This thread of God’s own “sacrifice” out of God’s love for all people begins its weaving throughout all of scripture. Where there is love from the great “I AM”, there is sacrifice, initiated and provided by God. John 1:29 says, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Because God loves us, and wants to redeem us, God provides and offers the sacrifice. Such love is more than we can comprehend. 

In the letter to the church in Rome, the apostle Paul writes, "God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And later Paul reminds them (and us) of our call to be living sacrifices, to give our true selves to love and serve others. 

Personal Worship Option:

God calls us to live sacrificial lives in God’s kingdom service. We can give our lives in faithful service because we can trust God to open our eyes to all the ways God is providing every step of the way. Isaac Watts in 1707 sums it up this way, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”