Editor's Note: Look for devotions from Ann Spangler's books every week for the next few weeks. Todays devotion is from Praying the Names of God.
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (Genesis 22:13-14).
It is hard to read the story without imagining how Abraham must have felt. Was his hand shaking as he held the knife? Was his mind reeling under the burden of the terrible command he was about to obey? It is not hard to imagine his agony.
But have you ever considered it from God’s point of view? Watching the man and his son, did God feel something tearing at his heart, knowing that what he asked but did not require of Abraham—the sacrifice of his only son—he would one day require of himself?
Technorati tags: Ann Spangler, God, Devotion, Praying the Names of God, Zondervan
Comments