He Wants You

Genesis 22:1 “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah: and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

We all know this story: the heart-wrenching command of God to Abraham to sacrifice his son; then Abraham’s obedient surrender to God’s command. Abraham never did actually sacrifice his cherished son, but he was prepared to do so. Do you think God ever intended to take Isaac as a sacrifice? No, not at all. We know this because verse 1 tells us that God “did tempt” Abraham.

The use of the word tempt here does not mean to entice to do wrong. James 1 tells us that God never tempts people to sin. Here the word tempt means “to test.” God’s intention when he commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac was to test Abraham’s faith. He was testing Abraham’s faith, not for His own benefit (God already knew), but for Abraham’s benefit to know the depth of his own faith in God.

We can only imagine the pain that Abraham must have felt, but the Scriptures tell us that he rose up early in the morning to obey God’s command. We know that Abraham’s obedience was confident obedience. He was confident in the character of God. He was confident that somehow God would make a way for his son to live again. Hebrews 11:19 says of Abraham’s obedience, “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead….” He thought that God would allow Isaac to be sacrificed, but that He would raise him from the dead.

From the story, we know that God’s plan was even better that what Abraham thought. But the fact is, Abraham trusted God to make a way, and he simply obeyed what God told him to do. His confident obedience was displayed again when he responded to Isaac’s question about the lamb, saying, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” This simple statement is one of the most epic, prophetic statements in the Scriptures. What a beautiful picture of God’s provision, not only for Abraham, but also for the whole world through Jesus Christ!

Did God really want Isaac in this story? No, it is clear who God really wanted-it was Abraham himself! Whatever the Lord asks any of us to give to Him is His to begin with! He made everything. He owns it all. He doesn’t desire our “stuff”-it already belongs to Him. He wants us!

In this story out of Abraham’s life, the one that benefited most was Abraham. When he chose to give up his most prized possession, he was giving himself totally to the Lord. He gained more than he could have dreamed.

There will be days when we are tested by God to surrender something that we prize. It may be big or small, and we may feel like saying, “Lord, haven’t I already given enough?” But remember, when the Lord asks for something, He is really asking for your heart! God doesn’t want your things-He wants you! Learn from Abraham-trust God, trust His way, and surrender it all. You will see in the end that it was all for your good!