LOVE IS
SOMETIMES TESTED
Memorise: No man
taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my
Father. John 10:18
Read: Genesis 22:1-3, 22 And it came to pass after these things, that God did
tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom
thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a
burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his
ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the
wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God
had told him.
Bible in one year:
Psalm 111:118, James 1:19-2:13
The presence of love can be perceived when it is demonstrated through
giving. Love does not only give, it gives its best. It also gives sacrificially
and willingly. God did not give His only begotten Son to the world because He
was forced to; He gave Him because He wanted to (John 3:16). When He came into
this world, the Son followed the example of the Father. In John 15:13, He said:
“Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Even after the Son accepted to become a man, nobody compelled Him to
die. He voluntarily laid down His life. He willingly did this as proof of His
love for God and man (John 10:17-18).
If you go through the Scriptures, you will definitely come across
passages where God demanded that those who professed love for Him should prove
it. One of such cases can be found in today’s Bible reading. The word “tempt”
used in Genesis 22:1 is actually “test” in the original Hebrew text. God does
not tempt people, but Satan does (James 1:13). However, God can test His
children to evaluate the quality of love they have for Him. Although it is on
record that Abraham was a friend of God, God still wanted to know if the would
give Him his best sacrificially and willingly. God therefore asked Abraham ton
sacrifice his only son to Him. Abraham did not argue; he immediately set out on
a journey to perform God’s request. God took him on a three-day journey to the
mountain where the sacrifice would be carried out, to find out if he would
change his mind along the way. To show his willingness to give without
obstruction, Abraham did not tell his wife or Isaac about the sacrifice God
demanded from him. If he had done so, Sarah would have stopped him from
fulfilling what God wanted. It is also possible that if Isaac had known about
God’s request ahead of time, he would have run away. Today, when God demands
something sacrificial from some people as proof of their love for Him, what He
gets is excuses. Such people would tell their spouses about God’s demand, fully
aware that they would vehemently resist it. They do this because they never
wanted to give what God was asking for in the first place. Thereafter, they
would tell God that although they were willing to obey His instruction, they
had to back out because their spouse’s disagreement with it could negatively
affect their home. What an excuse! Do you think that God does not see into your
heart to know what actually led to your refusal of His request other than what
you claim?
Action Point
Ask God for grace
never to fail the tests He puts you through.
0 Comments
Please drop a comment. God bless you!