Day 3 + Read first verse of several chapters

Genesis 12:1-- 4
Genesis 15:1-- 6
Genesis 16:1-- 4
Genesis 17:1-- 8
Genesis 19:1-- 5 (15-- 26)
Genesis 21:1-- 4
Genesis 22:1-- 18

What does God say?

The story of Abraham and his family is long and important. We like to think of our Bible heroes as heroic. But several great characters in a row have let us (and God) down -- Adam ate the apple, Noah got humiliatingly drunk, and Abraham had a child with the maid.

What does God have to say about that?

"17:16I will bless [you]."

What a strange and wonderful God we have! He blesses broken people! (And I don’t know about you, but that’s definitely a blessing for me!)

What does God say to us?

Many of us live paralyzed lives. We’ve done something shameful in our past. We can’t forgive ourselves for that transgression; therefore, deep down, we fail to believe that God can forgive us for it.

But do you know what God said to Abraham and Sarah? It’s the same thing he says to you: "18:14Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?"


Spend a moment or two confessing the big sins you cannot seem to forgive yourself for ...


Now spend more time thanking God for the power of his forgiveness!


What does God say?

"19:17Flee for your life [and] do not look back."

What does God say to us?

"When you flee from your sins, do not look back."

Wait ... God didn’t actually say that! Is using this verse in this way stretching it’s original intent? Probably! And yet, when we flee our past -- as Lot and his wife fled the depravity of Sodom and Gomorrah -- I don’t think it’s stretching the truth to say that God wants us to leave it behind ... to not look back ... and to finally be set free.

What do you need to be set free from and leave completely behind?


What does God say?

"17:12I will make you ... 14[the father of many nations]*."

*"Abraham" means "Father of many nations."

What does God say to us?

In spite of your past, God wants to make something of you!

After having put your past behind you, start asking God what he desires to make of you!



What does God say?

"22:2Take your son, your only son Isaac, ... and offer him ... as a burnt offering."

What does God say to us?

For most of my life, I tried to ignore this story.

It sounded absolutely barbaric.

Therefore, this story quickly became one of those passages I wrote off as silly, old, out-dated literature that had nothing to do with the soft and squishy God of Niceness. (If you’re like me, as soon as you start labeling your non-favorite stories as silly and old, you soon have few hundred passages in that file. In fact, if you’re like me, as soon as you start taming God, your soft and squishy God of Niceness seems more like a marshmallow than the "consuming fire" that it talks about in Hebrews 12:29. Wait ... a consuming God of fire seems scary, let me put that in the old and irrelevant file too ... or should we not?!)

As barbaric as this story sounds, what is it really all about? Is God really asking Abraham to sacrifice his son?

No!

By the end of the story we see that God has been planning to provide a substitute all along.

So why bother asking such a terrible thing?

First, it’s a test. God wants to know if Abraham will really obey him or not.

Second, God wanted to show that he is different than all the other "gods." In Abraham’s day, the other gods frequently required child sacrifice. Thus, Abraham was saddened by God’s call, but he was not surprised. Fortunately, God had a magnificent surprise in store! He is wonderfully different than all the other gods we can turn to (or create in our own imagination). Not only does God not ask us to give our sons, but God, instead, gives his only begotten Son!

That’s a long introduction to finally ask, "Therefore, what does God say to us?"

Well, I hear God saying, "All of life is a test and a trust." Indeed, God says, "Like Abraham, I will ask you to do many things in this life. Some will make sense. Some may not. The question is, will you follow my calls and commands -- and my Word -- even when it doesn’t make sense to you?"

What hard thing is God asking you to do?

And do you trust him -- if you truly step out in faith -- to provide a ram, a solution, a hope, and a way?"

P.S.

At the beginning of today’s lesson, we talked about Bible "heroes" who let us (and God) down. In spite of all the failures along the way, our story today ends with Abraham’s faith and trust.

Has your life known failure? How can you begin writing a new ending today?