Abraham's devotion was tested that day when God asked him for Isaac (Gen22:1-2). Had God asked Abraham for 10,000 sheep or for 5,000 rams, that would have been far easier for Abraham to offer. But one Isaac cost him everything, and he decided to offer nothing less than what God asked for. Abraham could have echoed the words that David said, years later, " I will never offer to my God that which costs me nothing " (2 Sam. 24:24). Yes, true worship involves our offering to God that which costs us everything. It is more than mere coincidence that it was on this very spot on Mount Moriah (where Abraham offered Isaac), that the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite was also located (where David said those words just quoted). And finally, Solomon built his famous temple on this very spot too (2 Chron. 3:1). God ordained His House to be built in the place where two of His servants (Abraham and David) had made costly sacrifices. That was where the fire fell from Heaven and that was where the glory of God was seen (2 Chron. 7:1). It is even so today. God builds His true Church and manifests His power and glory where He finds men and women who are willing to deny themselves and offer to Him that which costs them everything.
Does our Christianity cost us something? Is our service for God an easygoing, cheap thing that does not cost us much travail of soul? Does our prayer-life cost us something? Have we drawn a limit to the sacrifices we are willing to make for God? Do we look for ease and comfort? And are we still expecting the fire to fall and the glory of God to be seen in our lives? Let us not deceive ourselves. The fullness of the Holy Spirit can result only from a wholehearted giving up of ourselves to God.
The way of the Cross is difficult. How difficult it must have been for Abraham to face the thought of slaying his son himself. It is not easy for us to see our children suffering as a result of the stand we have taken for God. That can be very costly. But blessed are we, if we are willing even for that. God is no man's debtor. If we have honoured Him, He will certainly honour us; and we shall find our children following God too, as Isaac followed in Abraham's footsteps. Isaac's willingness to be tied to the altar and slain was itself an indication of his devotion to his father's God. He was a strong and able-bodied young man, and his aged father could never have tied him to the altar, if he himself had not been willing. But Isaac had seen the reality of God in his father's life, and so he too was willing to submit to anything that God desired.
On the other hand, many believers have often lowered their high standards and compromised Christian principles, for the sake of some material advantage for their children - only to see their children growing up to break their hearts and live for the world. Oh the tragedy of it! Heaven's greatest rewards are reserved for those who have followed in Abraham's footsteps, and who like him have not withheld anything from God, whatever the cost.
