And Abraham built an altar . . and bound Isaac his son.

     — Genesis 22:9

This incident is a picture of the blunder we make in thinking that
the final thing God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. what God
wants is the sac rifice through death which enables us to do what
Jesus did, viz., sacrifice our lives. Not – I am willing to go to
death with Thee, but – I am willing to be identified with Thy death
so that I may sacrifice my life to God. We seem to think that God
wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this blunder,
and the same discipline goes on in our lives. God nowhere tells us to
give up things for the sake of giving them up. He tells us to give
them up for the sake of the only thing worth having – viz., life with
Himself. It is a question of loosening the bands that hinder the
life, and immediately those bands are loosened by identification with
the death of Jesus, we enter into a relationship with God whereby we
can sacrifice our lives to Him.

It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants
you to be a ""living sacrifice,"" to let Him have all your powers that
have been saved and sanctified through Jesus. This is the thing that
is acceptable to God.

On this day...

• Genesis 12 - 2024
• Genesis 11 - 2024
• Our words and deeds are irrevocable - 2010
• DOES MY SACRIFICE LIVE? - 2009
• Song of Solomon 8:6 - 2009
• Proverb 17:11 - 2009