Hebrews 11:17 NIV
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,
Genesis 22:1-5 NIV
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Worship is a necessary and vital act in the life of the believer. Worship is our sacrifice to God.
Worship is defined as showing reverence and adoration to God, through prayer, thanks and praise of Him. I further define it as communion with God where we honor and glorify Him.
As discussed in another lesson, worship is actually for the benefit of the believer.
God doesn’t need it, but he asks us to worship Him because He knows WE need it.
Worship is something we should do every day of our Christian life. It should be developed as a “worshipful attitude” that we display consistently.
In the instance of Abraham being tested by God, we see another example of the importance of worship.
We know how this story ends and that God never intended for Isaac to be sacrificed. Instead, he was testing the faith and obedience of Abraham.
So, let's take a look at the beginning of this story.
When Abraham was instructed by God to sacrifice his son, what did he do?
We see that Abraham didn’t start complaining to God or asking why.
He didn’t say, “I’m done or I’m out of here.”
We also see that Abraham was not overcome with grief or despair.
Instead of any of the above-mentioned negative reactions, we see where Abraham’s faith remained steadfast and he realized the need to worship his God.
Abraham told his servants “WE will WORSHIP and then WE will come back to you.”
Contrary to what some think, the Bible does not record everything that was said or done. I’m sure that as Abraham and Isaac journeyed to the place chosen by God, Abraham was in serious communion with God. I imagine that his worship was intense, as he praised and thanked God for all things.
The message is simple and direct.
No matter how difficult or bad a situation may be in your life, the very best thing a Christian can do is to immediately worship God, thanking him for all things. Even our trials.
As our faith is being tested, we should worship God.
As we have questions and fears, we should worship God.
Abraham was facing the most difficult time of his life, as he took Isaac up the mountain.
He surely was anxious, distraught and fearful, yet he did what he needed to do.
He worshipped God.
In our toughest times, we pray that we will follow Abraham’s example and do likewise.
RVH