It’s hard to belive 2011 is over and 2012 is upon us! It’s also hard to believe that it’s been a year since I was in the Dominican Republic! Wow! Life does get faster the older you get.
2011 was the only year that there were four teenagers in my family. Dad stated last week that he will have teenagers in his house for more than 10 years. I told him he should consider being a youth pastor, since he’ll have lots of experience. Haha.
The world is APPARENTLY ending this year!!! Lots of people may have jumped on this bandwagon while many others are rolling their eyes. The truth is- the world could very well end this year, but it may also go on 100 more years. We don’t know. I can choose to believe the world to end this year and base all my decisions on the fact I want to do so many things before I ‘die’. I could also choose to place my trust in the One who created the world and believe that he does know the time of the world’s end. I choose to live everyday as though Jesus is coming back the next. What would happen if every person lived that way? What would we accomplish? How many lives would we change?
When the new year begins we start to think of things to change. new years resolutions we call them. I was thinking about it in December and trying to decide what I’d like to change in 2012. I decided NOT to make a ‘new years resolution”, because I never keep them longer than January anyway. Instead I wanted to make it something that I would actually DO the entire year. My goal for 2012 is to read through the Bible in 365 days. It’s been a rewarding experience to re-read passages that I’ve read before and to see the new things I learn. So far, I think my favorite passage is Genesis 22:1-19. It’s the story where God calls Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. I find this passage so amazing. Abraham trusted God so much that he was WILLING to give his own son as a sacrifice. He knew beyond his own understanding that God would provide the sacrifice, and IF he didn’t, then he would give Abraham another heir...
. 1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,[c] because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
This passage is so challenging to me. I have noticed that I have a hard time being willing to do certain things for God. I will do them, but out of obedience,...not because I actually WANT to. God's been showing me that a willing heart will bring even more reward than just being obedient.
So my question to you is: Are you WILLING, or just being obedient?
God Bless.
♥
