I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good. (Psalm 54:6 NIV)
You ask me what I can sacrifice,
and I may not have an answer.
Would I truly be willing to lay down my son,
my children,
my life,
and still follow You?
Or would the pain of those losses
pull my eyes away from the King?
You sacrificed Your life,
Your relationships,
Your friendships,
Your future—
all for me.
Lord, I long to have that same surrendered heart:
a heart willing to walk my only son,
my future,
my promise,
up the mountain if You ask.
Teach me to trust You that deeply.
Sacrifice is built upon sacrifice.
I know what I am asking,
for every “yes” costs something.
But the calling You have placed on my life
cannot be limited
by what I am willing to surrender today.
I don’t want to miss where You are leading me
because my eyes are fixed on what You’re asking me to lay down
instead of on the ram
You have already prepared to provide.
Keep my eyes on the King,
not on the altar.
All Powerful God,
Help us to have willing and obedient hearts, attuned to your Spirit within us, so that we hear and respond to your calling. Give us the faith, courage, and grace to go and be and do what you need us to do. May our lives be pleasing and honoring to you, we pray in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:3-12 NIV)
h/t KV