There are a few things that are truly difficult in a Christian walk. For instance, daily reading God’s word and seeing what He wants to tell you, making time for Him in our prayer life with the hectic lives that we live, and holding on to the faith you have in who God is. I think faith is the biggest weapon FOR a Christian and AGAINST a Christian. You see faith is something that we don’t fully understand. We know when we haven’t been reading God’s word like we should be. We understand when our prayer life is nothing more than a mere minute or two in the shower, but faith… faith we don’t understand. This is why it is one of the best weapons against a Christian. When we as humans don’t understand something we tend to shy away from it. As Christians we see faith as something that just comes natural once we have been saved, but that is not the case. With this attitude towards faith there are many Christians that think they exerting faith when in all honesty they are leaning on their own strength and power. They are trusting in themselves for the results and not in God. They are still holding on to struggles and past sins in their life. Look with me to Genesis 22:1-13.
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.”
True faith?!?!?!?! “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.
Another faith statement!!! “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
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 caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
When any one talks about faith this is the story that almost always comes up. This is what we go by and say is true faith, but I want you to look at some things with me. Adrian Rogers said “A faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.” Look at verse one, “Some time later God tested Abraham.” I want you to think about this story a little more. Verses 6 and 7 tell us what is needed for a sacrifice. You have the wood, the fire, the knife, and the sacrifice. We see in these verses that Abraham and Isaac carried all of these things to the place where the sacrifice was going to happen. Now I want you to think about how this story would have ended if they would have kept holding the wood or the fire. What would have happened if they were willing to lay everything down on the altar except one of these tools? Without the wood there is no fire. Without the fire there is no burnt offering. Without the knife there is no way to kill the sacrifice, and without the sacrifice the whole thing is pointless. So they had to be willing to lay everything down on the altar for the sacrifice to work. It’s the same way with us today. We have to be willing to lay everything down at the altar for Jesus’ sacrifice to work in our lives. “Faith isn’t faith until it’s all you’re holding on to.” True faith isn’t holding on to past sins, or past regrets. True faith isn’t holding on to the way you felt when someone hurt you. True faith isn’t staying in a lifestyle that you know isn’t pure. True faith is giving God everything He deserves. True faith is giving God His portion of your finances when it doesn’t even look like there will be food on the table this week. True faith is giving God your marriage when it looks like it is crumbling down. True faith is telling that one person you have been praying for, about Jesus Christ. True faith is asking God to test your faith. Psalm 26:2 “Lord, try me and test me; look closely into my heart and mind.” I challenge you this week to give God the things that you have been holding on to. I promise He can take care of them so much better than we can. I challenge you to ask God to test your life to see if it is where He would have it to be. Then I challenge you when He tells you it isn’t, because He will, to make the changes that He would have you to make.
Jesus already made the sacrifice He is just waiting for you to lay everything you have at His altar. I am praying for you this week and I love you guys and Jesus Christ loves you more.
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