Making Disciples, Teaching Obedience by Obeying

 

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22:9-14 ESV).

 

Abraham must have been heartbroken. God had told him to sacrifice his beloved son. Through this only heir, Abraham and his descendants were to be blessed (cf. Genesis 17:19). It could not have made sense to Abraham, but he trusted God and responded in obedience. Isaac too knew the love of his father, Abraham, and trusted him enough to follow his instructions.

 

Abraham modeled obedience to God for Isaac to see. If his father said that God would provide, that was enough. They did not know God’s plan, but they trusted God to be in charge. By faith “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death” (Hebrews 11:19).

 

It is hard to trust God when we do not understand his plan, when we cannot make sense of what God is calling us to do. Rather, we long to preserve the illusion that we are in control of our life. We want God to work things out according to our plan, but that is not the way God works. God asks us to trust him and to obey.

 

To disciple others, we must be disciples. While we certainly cannot be perfect, we can be growing in our sanctification. This will involve our learning more to trust God and obey Him. That act becomes a powerful teaching tool. Our example is essential in the process of making disciples. How can we expect others to do more than we are willing to do? Trust and obey!