When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
God had promised Abraham he would become the father of many nations through his son via Sarah. They were not patient to wait the decades it took for God to set his plans in motion, but eventually God still began to act. He needed to be sure of Abraham’s faithfulness, and so he called on Abraham to be willing to give up the thing which was most precious to him, his only son. What a sacrifice, yet he was willing to do it. God did not require Abraham to make this sacrifice, but to be willing to. So it is with us, the Bible does not call on all Christians to sell all their possessions in order to follow Jesus. The Lord does call some to do this, think of the rich young ruler (Mark 10, Matt 19), but this is not required to follow Jesus any more than it is required for you to leave your family (Luke 14). We must be willing to give up what is most precious to us, our possessions or even our loved ones, but God is not vindictive or capricious, he will not take anything away from you without a purpose behind it. Trust him today. Be willing to give him your all, he is worth it.
