"Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey." Genesis 22:3
"Black Friday" starts early. As early as 5 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving, retailers begin luring buyers out of their beds and into their stores. And the buyers come knowing they can find amazing deals.
Early risers have always impressed me, I guess because I've never been much of one. It's good progress if I get going by 7 a.m. To get me out of my warm bed for a 5 a.m. store opening would certainly take a bigger incentive than any retailer has thus far mustered. So what enticed Abraham out of bed early, eager to begin his day?
The answer is found one verse earlier in Genesis 22:2: "The God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and...sacrifice him.'" Well, I don't know about you, but that's not the kind of thing that's going to get me jumping out of bed in the morning. In fact, it's likely to keep me in it, hoping that if I just wait long enough I'd get a different vision from God. But Abraham rose early, perhaps even before dawn, loaded the donkey with wood and set out with his son and two of his servants.
What would motivate this kind of enthusiastic obedience? Was Abraham just trained to jump when God said 'jump'? Perhaps. But it may also go deeper than that. Hebrews 11:19 gives us a little insight, "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the death."
Abraham believed in a God worth getting up for. He knew that God had given him a promise, that his descendants would be countless. Furthermore, he knew that God was the ultimate Promise Keeper and would never go back on His word. Perhaps the night before, as Abraham was feeling the weight of the command he just received, he contemplated the ways that God could keep his promise. Could it be that a miracle was in order? Now that would be worth getting up early!
You may feel wearied by a long journey and a hard road. Like Abraham, a dream may have been put to death. But rise up! Don't stay asleep. It may be that God will show you a miracle today.
The answer is found one verse earlier in Genesis 22:2: "The God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and...sacrifice him.'" Well, I don't know about you, but that's not the kind of thing that's going to get me jumping out of bed in the morning. In fact, it's likely to keep me in it, hoping that if I just wait long enough I'd get a different vision from God. But Abraham rose early, perhaps even before dawn, loaded the donkey with wood and set out with his son and two of his servants.
What would motivate this kind of enthusiastic obedience? Was Abraham just trained to jump when God said 'jump'? Perhaps. But it may also go deeper than that. Hebrews 11:19 gives us a little insight, "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the death."
Abraham believed in a God worth getting up for. He knew that God had given him a promise, that his descendants would be countless. Furthermore, he knew that God was the ultimate Promise Keeper and would never go back on His word. Perhaps the night before, as Abraham was feeling the weight of the command he just received, he contemplated the ways that God could keep his promise. Could it be that a miracle was in order? Now that would be worth getting up early!
You may feel wearied by a long journey and a hard road. Like Abraham, a dream may have been put to death. But rise up! Don't stay asleep. It may be that God will show you a miracle today.
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