Reading your Bible for today November 11

November 11: Genesis 22:11-14

KJV Key Verse: Genesis 22:12
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Devotion:
This is one story which has stuck with me from reading through the bible - the story of Abraham taking Isaac up to be sacrificed; the test which God put before Abraham so all may know about Abrahams fear and reverence to God. It was not God’s intention that Isaac should ever be really sacrificed because He had already planned a perfect sacrifice for all. There is no need, and never was a need, for anyone to offer up a human sacrifice because God already knew He would allow Jesus Christ to be that sacrifice for us all.

There are probably times in each of our lives when we start to think God is asking a bit much of us or when we wonder whether God is watching at all. It is at times like that we need to bring this story of Abraham’s faith to the front of our thoughts. Not only is it encouraging seeing such an act of faith from Abraham’s point of view, but it is equally encouraging to see God’s faithfulness demonstrated by the Angel of the Lord was watching over him. We need to remember these demonstrations of faith and faithfulness and try ourselves to follow in Abraham’s footsteps.

It is not a requirement that we must demonstrate our faith before God will show His faithfulness through His promises to us. He has already shown His faithfulness by giving us a perfect sacrifice almost two thousand years ago. He has shown us His love right from when He created heaven and earth and continues to show us all manner of blessings. Like Abraham, it may only be when we do show our faith and dependence on God that we will see just how much He does care for us. If we depend on ourselves and not God, then how are we going to see how much He is actually doing for us? By depending on God like He has said we should, we will be able to see how much He does for us and when He does it for us, just like Abraham and Isaac were able to see God’s faithfulness.

Points to Ponder:
Do you depend on other people (like your parents)?

Are you depending on God?