Today’s Devotional: “A Sacrificial Faith”

“It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.” (Hebrews 11:17)

Here is the ultimate act of faith. It’s trusting the Lord with the promises we’ve received. Sacrifices require great faith because they don’t make much sense. Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac.

Look at what God said about Isaac. “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” (Hebrews 11:18)

But now Abraham was asked to sacrifice God’s promise by offering his son Isaac (Genesis 22:2).

God, however, was never going to let Abraham go through with the sacrifice because it would go against His word. What God was after was to see whether Abraham was willing to sacrifice his best, as the Lord God would do by offering His Son, Jesus Christ.

Maybe some of us have been struggling and praying for years, and God brings His promise, only to say, “Give it back to Me,” or “Serve Me or others with the promise, not yourself.”

Maybe part of my story will help. I had always wanted to go to seminary, but it wasn’t until I lost everything that the opportunity presented itself. I was able to work and save, and I had the money to go, but then God tested my faith and asked for a sacrifice. Someone I knew needed the exact amount I had to keep their home, so I gave it, because of what God’s word says, that if someone asks for your cloak, give them your coat as well (Matthew 5:40).

Well, I gave it all and had nothing left. I was living hand to mouth by God’s grace. But then God gave me the promise through another means and led me in the direction He wanted me to go, through a completely different seminary.

You see, it is through sacrifice that we show God that we understand that it all belongs to Him in the first place.