Paint Party Friday: God Will Provide

 "God Himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust." Genesis 22:8

You never know what happens in a day, a week or a year. For sure Abraham would never have thought that God would bring him into a strange land. Then when he and Sarah were so old, God would give them the gift of a son. In Genesis 22, God asked Abraham for something He never asked anyone before or since. He said, "Take your son, your unique, precious son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and offer him up as a holocaust on Mount Moriah." If it was me, I would question God, plead with Him, get angry and adamant. Was He just like those other pagan Gods who demanded blood sacrifices????

But Abraham in obedience, brought Isaac up the mountain. Isaac unknowingly even carried the wood for the sacrifice. "Where is the lamb for the sacrifice, father?" Isaac asked innocently. "God Himself will provide it," Abraham answered. I cannot imagine the turmoil of emotions roiling around inside this man. 

When the time came to tie Isaac up, it is amazing that there is no record of a struggle. I am sure Isaac could have given Abraham a hard time, but Isaac was as meek as a lamb led to slaughter. My husband tells of a time he had to kill a lamb for a special meal, and he says it is true that lambs are very meek and go willingly to be killed.

 Does this image of Isaac as a meek lamb remind us of Jesus? It should. It is a foreshadowing of the willing sacrifice Jesus paid for each one of us. (Isaiah 53:7) Like Isaac, Jesus carried the wood on which He would hang. Our Heavenly Father watched as His precious Son, His unique, only begotten Son, was crucified for our sins and for our salvation. Yes God Himself provided the sheep for the holocaust. Abraham never needed to sacrifice Isaac because Jesus would offer Himself for us all. It is finished.

 "Do not persist in your unbelief, but believe." John 20:27

Never was a man more disparaged for his doubt than Thomas!  He will forever be known as "doubting Thomas"! But Thomas did not merely have doubts, he plainly, adamantly, did not believe. "I will NEVER believe," he insisted, "without probing the nail prints in his hands, without putting my finger in the nail marks and my hand into his side." If you think about it, all the disciples would have been the same. It's just that they were there when Jesus appeared to them, even if they had locked the door.  They saw for themselves that He was risen from the dead.  He showed them his hands and his side.

In John 20:29, Jesus urges us to make a leap of faith. "Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed."  There are times I think, "Why do I believe?" To a non-believer, the Bible can be a bunch of made up, absurd stories! I decided a long time ago that yes, Jesus, You are God, and I will follow You.  Because of that leap of faith, I have been blessed. Now I know without a shadow of a doubt, like Thomas, like the other disciples, like Paul who tried to destroy the followers of Jesus, that He is alive, He is God, and He holds the key.  

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