MAY 22: DECIDE TO OBEY GOD

Wiley Richards is a retired professor of theology and philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

Some years ago as I stood in a churchyard, one of the men volunteered some information that has stuck in my mind. He said, “Fifty-five years ago this week, five of us were ordained as deacons in the First Baptist Church of Marianna. The ones still alive are still faithful to the Lord. The others were faithful until death.” The thought came to mind of five little boys deciding to follow Jesus whose dedicated lives testify to the marvelous power and grace of our Lord. Men and women, usually unnoticed by most of the world, have forged the values that make us what we are as a nation. We proudly add our testimony to theirs, “We have decided to follow Jesus.”

Salvation in Christ is free, purchased on the cross, but obedience always involves COST (vv. 1-2). Abraham’s life had been uneventful for a number of years. All his herds were doing well, Sarah was contented, and all the world was beautiful. Without warning, God stunned him, telling him to take his son Isaac, greatly loved, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering.

He did not offer Abraham an explanation at the time, but the command was a test of Abraham’s faith. In the original Broadman Bible Commentary on Genesis, the author, G. Henton Davies, argued that a holy God would never command a human sacrifice. He missed the point. Subsequent biblical events proved God did not need a human sacrifice, but Abraham needed to be willing to offer it. He was willing to pay the cost.

We have learned that the willingness to follow God requires PREPARATION (vv. 3-4). Abraham prepared for the trip and arose early the next morning to begin the journey. He took two young men along, perhaps to share the chores along the way and serve as companions for Isaac. On the third day he saw his destination in the distance, the rock of Moriah, just north of the City of David on which the temple was later built. He ordered the young men to remain there with the donkey and equipment while he and Isaac continued further to worship.

We have a saying in the ministry that the call to preach is a call to prepare. I never doubted that truth, but little did I realize 11 years after being released from the U.S. Navy and enrolling in college, my wife, Betty, and I would have four children while I completed work on a final degree, a doctorate in theology at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

The decision to follow God requires a great deal of ASSURANCE (vv. 6-8). Isaac saw the wood for the sacrifice, but no lamb to be offered, and inquired about the lack. Abraham stepped out on faith and assured him God would provide a lamb. Something deeper was at work in his mind, as Hebrews 11:19 asserts. God had raised both Abraham and Sarah’s bodies from a “dead” state, so to speak, by providing the birth of Isaac. If Isaac died on the altar, Abraham knew God could, and would, raise him from the dead. A faith like that cannot be shaken by circumstances.

Frequently, our obeying God may necessitate God’s INTERVENTION (vv. 9-12). After preparing the altar with Isaac on it, Abraham lifted his knife for the fatal plunge. The angel of the Lord called from heaven with the command to cease. God has the option of changing the direction of our commitment. In obeying Him, preacher boys can be turned into professors.

Finally, obeying God frequently involves SUBSTITUTION (vv. 13-14). The ram caught in a thicket by his horns became the substitute for Isaac. Jesus, God’s Lamb, is the substitute for sinners on the cross. Rightly did Abraham call God Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide.” Indeed He does.