God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said: “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a burnt offering
on a height that I will point out to you.”
Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey,
took with him his son Isaac, and two of his servants as well,
and with the wood that he had cut for the burnt offering,
set out for the place of which God had told him.
On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar.
Then he said to his servants: “Both of you stay here with the donkey,
while the boy and I go on over yonder.
We will worship and then come back to you.”
Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering
and laid it on his son Isaac’s shoulders,
while he himself carried the fire and the knife.
As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham:
“Father!” he said.
“Yes, son,” he replied.
Isaac continued, “Here are the fire and the wood,
but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”
“Son,” Abraham answered,
“God himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.”
Then the two continued going forward.
When they came to the place of which God had told him,
Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
Next he tied up his son Isaac,
and put him on top of the wood on the altar.
Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven,
“Abraham, Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
“Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger.
“Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”
As Abraham looked about,
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram
and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.
Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh;
hence people now say, “On the mountain the LORD will see.”
Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:
“I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
your descendants shall take possession
of the gates of their enemies,
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth
shall find blessing–all this because you obeyed my command.”
Abraham then returned to his servants,
and they set out together for Beer-sheba,
where Abraham made his home. GN 22:1-19
How devoted are you to God? I thought about this as I was reading this 1st reading today from Genesis. There is no way I would sacrifice my own child. Abraham trusted God so much he was willing to sacrifice his son if God asked him to. God sends us many messages in this reading and we can learn a lot from Abraham’s trust in God . First, God will test us to see how devoted we are to Him. Of course, we have to make a decision in our heart to devote ourselves to Him which leads to increased prayer and actions that imitate Christ. It seems each time I move forward in my devotion to God, a test comes and many times I fail. I am weak, but God asks us to give that weakness to Him, for He will make us strong. Second, obedience. Abraham was obedient to the point that he was willing to sacrifice His own son. Obedience is the first step to holiness. When I am not obedient, sin is sure to be a result of a poor decision. Obedience is not something I am good at and ask God to give me the grace to do better. Last, there are many parallels between this story and Christ’s crucifixion on the cross. God asked His only Son to redeem the sin of humanity by dying for us. His blood and water purified not just many generations but all generations. This took radical obedience, so much obedience that He died on a tree for us. Just as Abraham took Isaac to a specific place to be sacrificed, Christ went to Golgatha to be sacrificed. Isaac carried the wood he would be sacrificed on on his back, Christ carried a wooden cross in which He would be sacrificed on. Abraham stayed obedient to God, Christ stayed obedient to the Father. What does all of this mean? The rewards are eternal. Eternal joy, bliss, complete fulfillment, peace with your Creator. All of the crosses we are given, God gives us the grace we need to overcome them. This is where the trust comes in. God will test us to see if are trust in Him is fake or if we really do believe He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to be back with Him forever. What a difficult task! May we empty ourselves and allow God’s grace to fill us. May our trust in God be increased by our perseverance in humility, recognizing we need God. He is big, we are small. He is strong and we are weak. He wants our weakness to make us strong. May we be open to being transformed by His grace in the sacraments and through our rock solid prayer life. Last, may we allow ourselves to be transformed so that when others see us they see Christ. Be a servant, become a saint!
Today’s challenge: Increase your devotion to God through more devout prayer, a more resolute heart, and most importantly much greater humility which will help us to recognize our need for God and His grace.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
Recent Comments