Give Me Isaac

A few months ago I was watching an online service and the Pastor was telling the story of Abraham and Isaac. As he told the story he used the phrase, “Give Me Isaac,” and it stuck with me. For days, that phrase replayed in my head until I decided to study the story for myself.

In Genesis 22:1, the Bible states that God “tested” Abraham’s faith. The Hebrew word for tested is nissah, which translates to mean “to prove the quality of” not “to entice to do wrong.”

In those days, pagans in Canaan regularly practiced child sacrifice by making their children walk through fire to offer them as food to their gods. So, by  asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, God was asking Abraham to demonstrate that he was as committed to God as pagans were to their gods. And Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac for three reasons:

  1. To demonstrate his absolute obedience.
    After God gave the command, Abraham moved “early the next morning” (Genesis 22:3). There was no delay, no questioning, no arguing, just simple obedience.

  2. To prove the quality of his faith.
    Abraham told his servants that he and Isaac would go up the mountain and come back again (Genesis 22:5). Abraham believed that if he sacrificed Isaac, God had the power to raise him from the dead, and they would both go back down the mountain. Abraham’s faith was one that acted, showing us that faith is more than a spiritual attitude. Faith works.

  3. To experience God as Jehovah-Jireh, which means “The Lord will provide.”
    On the way up the mountain, Isaac asked about the animal to be sacrificed, and Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering,” (Genesis 22:8). Abraham’s response to Isaac is a sign of matured faith, which was completely opposite to Abraham’s initial reaction to God’s promise to him about bearing a son at an old age.

Today, God isn’t asking us to sacrifice children. However, He is asking us to sacrifice, or surrender, what Isaac represents- a cherished possession, thought, activity, etc.- to demonstrate absolute obedience, to prove the quality of our faith, and to experience God as our provider.

So, what is your Isaac? Is it your will? Your marriage? Your money? Your need to be in control? Your philosophy about a specific subject? Your pain? Your limiting beliefs? Your way of thinking? Your way of life?

Whatever Isaac represents in your life, God wants you to surrender it to Him today.

Don’t hold anything back from God. Give Him what He asks, trusting that He’ll provide all your needs. And I guarantee you’ll discover, that He always does.