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A journey through Lent - 2016
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Day Four - Sacrificial Giving.
Some of these events of the Old Testament are difficult for us to understand. Would God ask us to sacrifice our only child?
Would we be willing to obey as Abraham was?
In hindsight we can see that God was never going to allow Abraham to sacrifice Isaac but at the time Abraham could not have known this.
As we reflect on this story of faith we can perhaps reflect also on the act of sacrifice of Jesus. Did God require a sacrifice or was Jesus killed by evil men encouraged by a whipped up crowd?
There is no doubt that he died for us and through his death, we have had revealed to us the wonder and awe of the resurrection.
The assurance that our covenat with God is still active. Through Jesus' death and resurrection we catch a glimpse of the life to come.
There is also no doubt that it is our relationship with the risen Christ which draws us into the presence of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Did God require this sacrifice? - I don't believe he did, but we definately did, in our blindness and unwillingness to accept God's call on our lives.
So today we pray for our lack of faith and our wandering away from the path. The Sacrificial Knife reminds us of our testing of God's calling. Are we willing to sacrifice much lesser things than our children to demonstrate our faith and willingness to listen to God?
Bible Passage: - Genesis Chapter 9 Verses 8 - 17 (NIV)
Abraham tested
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!'
'Here I am,' he replied.
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 that I will show you.'
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. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 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.'
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, 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?'
Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together.
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. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!'
'Here I am,' he replied.
'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.'
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. 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.'
Contemplation Saying.
"On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."
Contemplative Prayer.
Think of the saying in order to understand context and meaning,
Feel the meaning of the saying with and in your heart,
Pray, using the saying, for yourself or others. With only a name and without explaining the reasons or pre-defining any answers.
Listen for God's voice in the quiet of your prayers.
Pray using your own prayers or one of those which have been prepared below.
Hymn: Singing the Faith 424 - "God forgave my sin in Jesus' name"
Let us pray together.
Twitter Prayer.
Help us, willing, to give sacrificially of our time and ourselves to love and help others. Prepared to offer the sacrifices you ask of us.
Facebook Prayer.
May we be willing to give sacrificially of our time and of ourselves to help others. Prepared to make the sacrifices you ask us to make.
That we may love our neighbour as ourselves, help our neighbour in their need and spread your Good News of your love for every individual before all those we meet.
That all might know the depth of your love.
Full Prayer.
Father, we thank and praise you for sending your only Son into the world.
Not as a ram trapped in a bush, unwilling and unable to escape but as a willing sacrifice revealing your love for us.
Loving God we do not deserve anyone to die for us but we know that Jesus was prepared to do so, for us, for me. What an awesome thought. I fall down before you in worship at the reality of that sacrifice which was for me.
As we look upon Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem and the cross, may we see the pathway prepared for us by our Saviour.
We pray that you will help us keep our feet firmly on that path. When we wander send your signs and messengers to draw us back to it.
We thankyou that your times of testing are not to damage but to build up, not to hurt but to heal, not to imprison but to set us free.
We pray that we will face up to these test and draw from them the growth in our faith and discipleship that you desire.
That in your grace may we live a lives of faith and love, trusting always in your goodness.
In our world where self is seen as most important there is too often little space for love. Little time for giving, sharing or receiving.
In the midst of the busyness of the world there is real loneliness which so often goes unnoticed by all but you.
Help us to see people as you see them, help us to be your love revealed in the world.
May we be willing to give sacrificially of our time and of ourselves to help others. Prepared to make the sacrifices you ask us to make.
That we may love our neighbour as ourselves, help our neighbour in their need and spread your Good News of your love for every individual before all those we meet.
That all might know the depth of your love.
In Christ's Name, Amen.
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