Cutting The Wood

Take 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. Genesis 22:2

Abraham trusted the will of God completely, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he followed God’s will in robotic fashion without thought or feeling. When God asked him to give his son as an offering, I imagine his mind must have been swimming in confusion. This was his heir, through whom there would be a great nation!

I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. Genesis 17:16

From the line of Abraham and Sarah, kings would come, and it would start with Isaac – I will establish my covenant with him (v19) – but how could this promise be kept if Isaac is to be offered on the altar of God? Yet, what we see in this story is that even through the confusion in his mind and deep sorrow in his heart, Abraham did not question the will of God. He didn’t know how God would keep His promise but he absolutely believed that He would. So, he rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, cut the wood for the burnt offering and took his son to the place of which God had told him (v3).

In order to trust God this much, Abraham needed a belief in God that was unwavering. Do we have this same unwavering faith; is there anything that God could ask of us that we would be hesitant to give? The altar of God calls for sacrifice, but what are we willing to offer up?

God won’t ask for what we don’t have, but He might ask for something we would like to keep. Are we willing to let it go? Abraham demonstrated his willingness to trust God by cutting the wood and bringing the beloved offering – and his belief in God’s promise was rewarded.

Let us never be afraid to cut the wood and bring the offering that God requires, for His promises will always be fulfilled.