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MONDAY MORNING MOMENTS
Feb. 15, 1999 Vol. IV Number 07
Abraham’s heart must have beat rapidly as he took his son and led him up the mountain. To add heartbreak, he laid the wood upon Isaac. How beautifully we see symbolized the coming event when God the Father would put the cross on his own Son for the world’s redemption! Actually, Abraham offered Isaac. The book of Hebrews states the fact emphatically, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promise offered up his only begotten son” (Gen. 11:17). When Abraham’s will was completely dedicated to the fact that he was going to do it, he had, in his heart, performed the act. God will accept the will even though the deed has not been done, but he will never accept the deed if the will has not truly surrendered.
Although Abraham then offered Isaac, he did not lose him. We never lose what we give to God. We often hear, “you can’t out give God.” When we dedicate ourselves and our possessions to God, he gives back, sometimes a hundredfold. This does not mean that God will automatically make us wealthy merely because we become tithers. God can give us many blessings besides material ones. Yet God does have a marvelous way of making the nine-tenths go further than the ten-tenths when the first ten is dedicated to him.
Unless we are people of faith, we can never be effective stewards for God. Abraham was a man who literally lived by faith, Every step in his life required that he trust God to the utmost. To give our possessions to God on a regular, sustained basis requires faith. The real test is, of course, how much we love God.
John Oxenham wrote:
love ever gives –
forgives - outlives
and ever stands
with open hands
and while it lives -
it gives
for this is love’s prerogative - to give - and give - and give
“Look at the Nations and watch - and be UTTERLY AMAZED. for I am going to do something in YOUR days that you would not believe even if you were told” Habakkuk 1:5
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