Reading: Genesis 22:1-8

Genesis 22:5 – “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will walk up there, worship, and then come back to you.”

Many years ago Abram heard the call of God, asking him to go to “the land that I will show you.” At 75 he left his father’s household and set out across the desert. The promise from God was to bless the nations through him as God worked to “make if you a great nation.” In today’s reading, God again calls out to Abraham. God asks Abraham to go to the region of Moriah, to “one of the mountains that I will show you.” Again, Abraham must take a step of faith, trusting where God will lead. How often does God ask the same of us? And… do we follow?

What God asks Abraham to do on this mountain is unfathomable. God says, “Take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac… offer him as an entirely burned offering.” And we thought sending Ishmael out into the desert, likely to die, was hard. Just as he had readied the water and bread back then, now Abraham readies the wood, the fire, and the knife. Setting out with Isaac, two servants, and a donkey, Abraham departs for the mountain.

Seeing the place in the distance, Abraham says to the servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will walk up there, worship, and then come back to you.” Walking on, Isaac asks, “where is the lamb?” Hmmm… “The lamb…?” muses Abraham. Sometimes our question is like this one. We’ve stepped out in faith but don’t have (or think we have) all we need for what seems to lie ahead. Abraham continues, saying to Isaac, “God will see to it, my son.” Trust the Lord. God will provide. Walk on in faith, just as Abraham and Isaac did.

Prayer: Lord God, you call us to step out in faith just as Abraham did. While what you asked of him and what you ask of each of us can vary greatly, you still require trust and obedience no matter what that step of faith might be. Grant us a measure of obedience equal to the call so that we may faithfully follow where you lead, confident that you will provide all that we need for the journey. Amen.