“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. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.” Gen 22:2, 3.

Tell me honestly and truthfully, have you not disobeyed God on occasions when your loved ones began to weep as they heard that you wanted to obey God? This is why many have not obeyed God’s call for service. Similarly many have refused to go when God wanted them to go somewhere else. Some have refused to take baptism. Others have no given God what He demanded from them. Tears of loved ones have been the cause of disobedience, and the Lord has had to speak to you and rebuke you. However loving and lovable that person may be, you cannot love anyone more than God.

God’s Word says, “Whosoever loveth father and mother, husband and wife more than me is not worthy of me”. Having passed the test, Abraham was able to go through another test. He had been on the point of making a mistake in connection with Hagar and Ishmael, but God spoke to him and he obeyed. Then came a very severe test in chapter 22. So God appeared to him the ninth time, in the same year as the happening in Genesis 22. These were also a temptation for Sarah anything about God’s demand of Isaac. Abraham knew by experience the danger of telling his wife Sarah certain things. He knew that if he told Sarah that God had asked him to sacrifice Isaac she would immediately start weeping and say: “O my son Isaac, my only son, surely God won’t ask such a thing from us”. So, guided by the Holy spirit, Abraham took Isaac away without saying anything about the whole matter to Sarah.”

___By Vivek Anand