Here I Am

In Genesis- we read: Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Can you think of anything more daunting?  When God spoke to Abraham and made his covenant with him, Abraham obeyed. His faith in God was reckoned to him as righteousness. Abraham took the command willingly and did not delay. No excuses, no hesitation; he got up early and stepped up to the challenge. His faith revealed how much he trusted God.

Of course, God did not condone pagan human sacrifice; so, when Isaac questioned his father as to what the sacrifice would be, Abraham responded that God would provide the sacrifice. God spared Isaac and made a substitute. Abraham took a ram and offered it up for a burnt offering, and the place of the sacrifice was called Jehovah Jireh (the Lord will provide).

Abraham, and later Moses, recognized God’s provision, and it pointed to the ultimate sacrifice when God would provide Himself. As Charles Spurgeon says, “In order to save us, God provided God. He did not provide an angel, nor a mere man, but God himself.”

Here I am was Abraham’s faithful reply. Would we all be so quick and ready to assume the commands of God as Father Abraham? Total surrender is the highest form of worship.