Day 9 - Genesis 22-23

Abraham's Faith: Tested and Approved by God

God had it in mind to test Abraham's faith. He told him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. The narrative is laced with suspense. In the end, we see that Abraham is truly obedient to God, for he almost sacrificed Isaac. After this, God saw the tangible outworking of his faith. I tend to think that this was God's process of circumcising Abraham's heart; he desperately wanted to be a father, to have at least one child. But God wanted more from Abraham. He wanted Abraham's heart and he wanted to fulfill his plan of world salvation through him. Eventually, God wanted Abraham and all of his descendants to be the recipients of the blessing of His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ. Abraham's righteousness was credited to him through faith and would later be paid out through Christ's death on the cross (Rom 4:22-25). Abraham's faith also pointed to the resurrection of Christ, for he reasoned that God could bring Isaac back from the dead (Heb 11:17-19). It's amazing to see God's faithfulness to Abraham despite his sins. He has brought him to a point where he has robust and mature faith. He wants the same for us as well. One last note, it's interesting that a century later, Solomon would build the first temple on this same mountain, Mount Moriah (2 Chr 3:1). This is the place where God would dwell among his people. So in a way, Solomon built the temple on the altar of the LORD that Abraham nearly made the greatest sacrifice of his life.

who or what sits on the throne of your heart?

Initially, when we come to God, we want Him plus something else. God knows this fully well. But he bears with us in love and patience so that he can circumcise our hearts. The end goal is that we may worship and serve him alone. It is when we develop this kind of faith that we come to experience the deep joy and fulfillment of having God alone at the center of our hearts. Through his work of sanctification, he removes the idols that brought us misery and pain as we pursued them. He helps us to come to the conclusion that He is enough for us. Moreover, like Abraham, we begin to move forward positively and take hold of God's vision for all of humanity, to be saved from sin and death and experience eternal life with Him.

Sarah's Death (authored by stan)

I knew that God is a God that gives and takes away. What I have in mind is of course death. Whenever a well known person died for example my grandfather, President Regan, Pope John Paul II, and my mother I would return to this thought of God being a giver and taker. However there is a different way of looking at death. Since we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ and firmly believe that He will raise us one day from the cold grips of death, God is really not taking anyone away. Just like Abraham had resurrection faith that God was looking for, it enabled Abraham to believe in the Lord and put Him first. We too can have resurrection faith and this will enable us to worship and believe 100%, for this is what God is wanting in us. If I believe that God is a giver and that He is taking back what He has given me only to be raised and glorified in His name in the afterlife then my sorrow and pain in my heart is comforted. We will all be united once again in the end of days and it will be wonderful. Everyone who dies here is not really gone rather they are asleep and will be awakened in the Final Judgment when we will all stand as one and praise our great God, The giver and redeemer.


Abraham's journey of faith is both candid and inspiring. What were some of the highlights that personally touched you?

In your own life, how has God patiently lead you to cherish him more and more?

Surely, Abraham had the potential to idolize Isaac. But we see through his near sacrifice of Isaac, he was completely free to give him to God. It seems as though he understood that God was so much more than the things he gives. We often tend to miss the fact that what he gives is meant to fill us with more gratitude that we may worship him more. Do we harbor any idols (, even among the things that God has given us,) in our hearts that are hindering our commitment to God?