Devotion Booklets for Seasons of the Church Year 2016 | Page 15

Monday—December 5th

God and His Blessings
Genesis 22:15-18
Do you remember your first day of school? Not just this year, but the first day you ever went
to school? You were probably a little nervous. It is scary to leave behind your parents and go
to a new place with a new teacher. Your parents were probably nervous too. Because it is
hard to take someone you love and hand them over to someone else.

But can you imagine being in Abraham’s shoes? Isaac was not only his son, but he was the only
son he had with his wife Sarah in 100 years of living! He was the child of the promise through
whom the promised Savior would be born. And then God comes to Abraham and tells him to
give Him Isaac. Not by dropping him off at a school, but by sacrificing him on an altar. Can
you imagine?
Abraham walked up that mountain with Isaac, made an altar, tied him up, and drew his knife to
sacrifice him when God stopped it. He didn’t want Abraham to kill Isaac. He just wanted
Abraham to remember who God was. God knew that Isaac could very easily have become an
idol for Abraham – something he loved more than God.
We do that with God’s blessings all the time. God blesses us with a good job, a nice house, a
great family and we begin to love those things more than the God who gave them. God didn’t
want Abraham to be tempted to do the same with Isaac. So God made him choose. He made
him choose between his son and his God. In doing so, Abraham remembered the difference
between God and his blessings.
God didn’t do that for His own sake. He did that for Abraham, Isaac, and us. We are the ones
blessed through Abraham. Jesus would eventually be born through the family tree of Abraham
and Isaac. He would save the world from sin. And he would do it by doing for us what he
asked of Abraham. God would trade the life of His only Son for you. Only nobody would stop
him. Jesus would go to the cross, suffer, and die, so that you would be forgiven and live with
God in heaven forever. God traded the life of his only son for you and he won’t leave your
side. Remember the difference between God and the blessings he gives.
PRAYER:
Loving Father, you traded the life of Jesus so that we could be your children. Forgive me for
the times that I care more about the things you’ve given me than I care about you. Through
your Word, remind us of the love you showed us in Jesus. Amen.
ACTIVITY:

List your three favorite things. How can they become idols?

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