TOPIC:“When Love Demands Our Proof”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Genesis 22:1-14
“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…” (Genesis 22:2)
Sometime ago while browsing through a newspaper, I came across this statement: “Man needs love in his diet to make him happy.” Let me add to that: Man cannot live without being loved. He may exist, but without love he will never know life at its fullest and finest. But if man needs to be loved, he must also be willing to express his love. Not only to declare it, but to demonstrate it as well. And especially, express it to the God who created him and wants to redeem him.
It certainly would not be a bad idea for some of us, with all of the trouble we are having, to stop and ask ourselves the question: Isn't it just possible that most of the problems we face come to us because we have not been willing to give God that which is rightfully His - our love? It is time, I believe, that we realize that God has a just claim here. He demands and deserves our love. The God of Heaven ought to be the recipient of all of our affection and admiration.
But as in most cases, we cannot give evidence of our love for God until it has been put to the test. For not until it has been tried, gone through the fire, undergone the supreme test, will love dare the impossible. This time came one day in the gallant life of Abraham when God asked him to give evidence of his love. And it was in this experience of love that Abraham was led into a deeper and more intimate fellowship with God than he had ever known before.
God was now asking for complete totality of Abraham's life. He was placing Abraham in the supreme crisis of his earthly life. The love which Abraham had been slowly gathering during those long and trying days was now about ready to be demonstrated. It had taken sixty long years of trial and testing to prepare him for this climactic event. Now one hundred and thirty years old, seventy years since he left Ur of the Chaldees, God finally comes and puts Abraham's love to the test. The crowning touch of Abraham's love was at hand. Some say that Abraham's faith was being sorely tried. Perhaps so, but when God said in verse 2: “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” He was proving the patriarch's love at the deepest level. Here God was saying to Abraham, “If you really love me, prove it.” And prove it he did!
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