Laying It All Down

I had written this post over a year ago when I first started working on this blog and thought it would be my first post, but you can check out my actual first post to find out why not. I had re-watched the movie “His Only Son” and was thinking about God’s command to Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son (Isaac) as a burnt offering to God for worship.  If you haven’t seen the movie or read Genesis 22, I highly recommend both. I thought about the faith it took for Abraham to be willing to give up the very thing God had promised him. He waited for years, clinging to the promise of an heir. Now that he had received his promise, God had required him to sacrifice that promise. Well, hopefully you know how the story ends. If not, go read it!

So, I was faced with this question: Is there anything in my life that I’m holding on to so tightly that if God told me to let go of it I couldn’t. It’s a question that we should constantly be asking ourselves. What about you? Is there anything you’re afraid to let go of…the son, daughter, successful business, promising career, thriving ministry, house, or whatever it may be? If he told you to let it go and to trust him to keep his promise, even if you couldn’t see the possibility of how it could happen, could you? We had a guest minister at our church last Sunday who spoke on this very topic. So I thought I’d make this my second post. The guest minister spoke of how God told him to give up the ministry he started. Praise God he was obedient. In his obedience, God blessed him and showed him an even better way to do ministry.  

We may not be able to see it but remember God is all knowing. He knows our end from our beginning. He already has the solution to every problem. He has the means and the resources to keep every promise he’s made to us.

So, if we can’t lay down what he asked of us, then it’s time to find out why not. Could it be that our will for what we want is stronger than God’s will for us. Perhaps we are trying to build our own kingdom or we think we are self-sufficient and can do it all without God‘s help. Well, here’s the thing with that, if he decided to withdraw his breath from us we would cease to exist. That is how much we depend on him without knowing. We have been taught to rely on our own abilities, but I tell you that is the world’s way. Our reliance has to be solely on God.

Once we have accepted, Christ, we die to the old nature, and we are new creatures. We lay down our own lives, because it no longer belongs to us. I talk about ownership and stewardship in my first post.

Apostle Paul clarifies this in Galatians 2:20 (ESV).

‘I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ‘

Worldly success is not the end goal or the greatest achievement but it is obedience to God, because in our obedience, God’s will is done on this earth. It is not just our life that is affected by our choices. Every decision to obey or disobey affects the people around us, and ultimately affects this earth. God is not focused just on one person. We are just one part of the puzzle of God’s overall plan.

Think of the magnitude of what Abraham was willing to give up, not knowing how God would keep his promise, but he was willing to be obedient and trust God even if it meant the death of the very thing God promised him. Look what it produced…A nation, through which the Messiah was brought forth. That affected us all!