He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2, ESV)
Michigan high school girls golf is a fall sport and I have been asked to help one of the local teams. All of these players have been playing golf for less than two years, with two being first-time golfers. Since my available time is sparse, the first thing I wanted to focus on is chipping and putting. During my first visit with the team, I heard myself repeating, “We want to keep it simple—back, down, and through.”
When learning the basic chip shot, the tendency is to try to hit under the ball or help the ball into the air. This causes extra body movement, inconsistent results, and frustration. There is a time for the more complex nuances of the golf swing, but the basic fundamental—keep it simple—should always be the baseline that guides us.
Each father was willing to offer up the son of his love.The same is true for our faith journeys. Our human nature is to complicate the message of the gospel, which can create confusion and frustration. An appropriate time to study the complexity and depth of the Scriptures is important, but we must start with a baseline.
The biblical baseline is rooted in love. The first occurrence of love in the Bible shows up in the Akedah, the binding or offering up of Isaac by Abraham. It’s either a familiar story we quickly bypass because we think we know it, or one of those Old Testament stories that makes us wonder who is this God who would ask a man to sacrifice his own son?
The first love in the Bible is about the love of a father (Abraham) for his son (Isaac). And before Abraham, the first love in existence was that of the Father (God) for the Son (Jesus). Each father was willing to offer up the son of his love. The first, as Abraham’s sacrifice to his God, was stopped by God himself; the other, to save all of humanity, was not.
In The Book of Mysteries, Jonathan Cahn writes, “If God offered up the Son of His love to save you, then He must love you with the same love with which He loved the Son. As it is written, ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16, NKJ).”
So here is our simple baseline truth: God paid the price of love when he offered his son on the cross. As much as he loves his son—the greatest love in all existence—he possesses this same love for you. You don’t ever have to wonder if God loves you.
Today, ponder God’s sacrificial love for you and in return live your life as a sacrifice of love to him.
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Tracy Hanson
August 30, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.