No Rivals

No Rivals

Later on God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.” “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you.”(Gen. 22:1-2 NLT)

What a shocker! God, you can’t be serious! Am I hearing you correctly? You must be making a mistake. Let me get this straight. You’re asking me to give back to you the son that I have longed for all my life. What about the promise? The covenant?  The descendants?  Do you realize what this means?

   These could have been the thoughts of Abraham. If we had been in the same situation, they might have been ours. Did Abraham balk at this command? Did he shy away from his duty? Did he try to rationalize a way out of the situation? NO! What did he do?

   The Scripture tells us that he began to prepare for the journey. Early the next morning, he saddled his donkey, gathered some wood for the fire, took his son Isaac, and two of his servants and off they went to Mount Moriah.

   Has God ever given you a task that seemed to go against everything you believed? Perhaps it was something that made no sense to you and human wisdom said it was impossible to achieve. It may be that God was testing your faith as he was with Abraham. How did you respond?

   The scene of Abraham and his son walking toward Mt. Moriah is a blunt and sobering truth. It teaches us that God will have “no rivals.” He must possess our heart, soul, and mind (will). (Matt. 22:37) If we do not treasure or love God in all three areas, then God will demonstrate like he did with Abraham that he is all we need by making sure that he is all we have.

   Ironically, it is when we are faced with a seemingly impossible task that we discover that God is what we hunger for most, and our relationship with him is the only thing that will satisfy.

Prayer: Dear Lord, you are all that I need, and I want no rivals to come between us.