WATCHWORD:
1 Later on, God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes, Lord?” he replied. 2 “Take with you your only son—yes, Isaac whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I’ll point out to you!” 3 The next morning Abraham got up early, chopped wood for a fire upon the altar, saddled his donkey, and took with him his son Isaac and two young men who were his servants, and started off to the place where God had told him to go. 4 On the third day of the journey Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the young men, “and the lad and I will travel yonder and worship, and then come right back.” 6 Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering upon Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the knife and the flint for striking a fire. So, the two of them went on together.
7 “Father,” Isaac asked, “we have the wood and the flint to make the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” 8 “God will see to it, my son,” Abraham replied. And they went on. 9 When they arrived at the place where God had told Abraham to go, he built an altar and placed the wood in order, ready for the fire, and then tied Isaac and laid him on the altar over the wood. 10 And Abraham took the knife and lifted it up to plunge it into his son, to slay him. 11 At that moment the Angel of God shouted to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes, Lord!” he answered. 12 “Lay down the knife; don’t hurt the lad in any way,” the Angel said, “for I know that God is first in your life—you have not withheld even your beloved son from me.” Genesis 22:1-12
Meditation:
Time for Silliness
I am willing to expose my lack of knowledge of parts of speech in the interest of being silly, or maybe to make a point. I am going to ask a question, and ask you not to google the answer, or consult your dictionary, or ask some tweedy professor of English. Here it is:
What, precisely, is a participle?
The fact is we probably use a participle in our speech or in our writing every day. I use participles every time I write and I never knew it, nor did I intentionally throw one in. So, I looked it up and this is what I found –
Participle: A form of a verb that in some languages can function independently as an adjective, as the past participle “baked” in ‘We had some baked beans’ and is used with an auxiliary verb to indicate tense or voice as the past participle “baked” in the passive sentence ‘The beans were baked too long’. Blah, blah, blah…
Okay, class, is that clear. Does this help in knowing the definition and the purpose of a participle? Definitely! Did I just use a participle in that sentence? I guess I did.
There is a point to this silliness. There are so many things in these lives of ours that we could not explain or define, yet, we act on them, we live with them, or we grow because of them, and we are thankful. Sometimes developments in our lives are a mystery, a happening we cannot explain. A sudden unexpected healing, we hesitate to call it a ‘miracle’ because we took some medicine and we reasoned that was why we healed. Maybe the tests came back, ‘cancer free’ and we chalk it up to radiation.
Are we missing the bigger issue? I can’t help but think of the story of the victim of a flood who prayed for help. A boat arrived. He told them to go on because God would help him. And while perched on the roof of his flooded house a helicopter came by to bring him to safety and he said, no, God would save him. How many God assists do we reject because it doesn’t fit our perception of the will of God?
Because we can’t define it or explain it, doesn’t make it any less real. How about our understanding of God’s directions? Abraham heard God tell him to “sacrifice your son”, and with a heavy heart he obeyed, not realizing that God was testing him.
Do we too often read our own definition into the directions that God lays out for us? Maybe we prize our comfort zone and therefore make judgments about what God would have us do? How about the tithe? Are there months when finances are too tight and we withhold? What is our definition of “first fruits”?
We don’t need a definition of participle in order to apply them. Often the clarity of God’s direction for our lives leaves little room for confusion, and yet we often tend to redefine it. The more time we spend in the Word, the less likely we are to misunderstand, redefine, or make assumptions that God is not in that, whatever “that” is.
We honor the Lord by understanding and following his precepts. When we don’t understand, he is there to open our minds. When we don’t know what to do, he opens our hearts and our eyes. When we lack direction, seem to be surrounded by confusion and uncertainty, our Lord is a ready source of guidance simply for the asking in His name. Believe that, trust that, rest in His loving arms. So be it.
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, so often we come before you asking for clarity of direction, a better understanding of your will for our lives. Too often, Lord, we balance your Will against our comfort zones, our tendency to take the easy route, our habit of looking away in the face of other’s needs. Forgive us, Lord. Open our hearts and our minds, our ears and our eyes to the direction you would have us go, the actions you would have us take, and the words you would have us share. These prayers we offer in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
