Do Not Withhold Anything from God

Note from today’s Bible reading: Genesis 22-25

In Genesis 22, God instructed Abraham to do something unbelievable. “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” (Genesis 22:2).

This surely did not make sense to Abraham – just as it would not make sense to us. Why would God tell him to do this? However, rather than questioning the Lord, Abraham went out the next day to obey what He commanded. He even went so far as to build an altar, bind his son, and lay him on the altar (Genesis 22:9).

However, just before he sacrificed Isaac, an angel stopped him with a message from God: “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” (Genesis 22:12). This was a test to see if Abraham was fully committed to obeying the Lord or not.

We have not been called to do what Abraham was told to do. His example was given as a lesson for us. As he was willing to sacrifice his son in order to be faithful to the Lord, we must be willing to sacrifice anything necessary to be faithful as well.

So do not withhold anything from God. All our time, resources, and opportunities in this life are blessings from Him. We should not hold back from using these blessings in a way that honors Him.