love day #10

I know most of my posts for my Love Days have been rather short.  Today's is a little longer because I thought instead of summarizing the BIble story, that I would let you read it for yourself.

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Genesis 22:1-14

 1Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 3So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” 6Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

      9Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.”

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Now,  I realize that the word love doesn't appear in the text but can't you just see Abraham's love for God and for his son? This was Abraham's promised son. He waited so long for a son and then God is asking him to sacrifice his son on an alter.  But that's not the only love seen here. Look at Abraham's love for God.  God asked him to sacrifice Isaac and he obeyed out of his love for God.  Abraham believed that God would bless him through Isaac so he was willing to sacrifice his son because He believed that God would somehow do a miracle to save his promised son.

The aspect of love that  really struck me in this passage, is that love is sacrifice.  God wanted to see how much Abraham loved Him and Abraham proved his love by his willingness to sacrifice the very son that he loved so much.  

We say we love others, but are we sacrificing for them?  Are we freely giving of our time and energy to help them out?  Are we giving until it hurts, like Abraham did?

Here is a little challenge for today: sacrifice something in order to show someone else that you love them.  Maybe you'll sacrifice some time to help someone out or you'll give some money to a person in need.  Just think, Jesus sacrificed His perfect life to show us His love.  Be a light in this darkness and give up something in order to show God's love to others today.