No Blessing Withheld

No Blessing Withheld

Genesis 22:15 – The LORD’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 – and said, “’I solemnly swear by my own name,’ decrees the LORD, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 – I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply our descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.

God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child. It took decades for this promise to be fulfilled. During that time both Abraham and Sarah thought God would fulfill His promise through more conventional means. But God is not limited by human conventions or limitations. He meant what He said. Sarah, in her old age, would give birth to a child. God visited her as He said He would. Sarah conceived and gave birth to a child that God would refer to as Abraham’s only son.

How many things do we have in our possession are the result of miracles of God? Think of all the deals, the good fortunes, the lucky breaks. Can we truly say that everything we are blessed with was the result of chance or coincidence or did God do the impossible and defy ‘the odds’ in order to bless us and we just haven’t given Him credit for it yet?

When Abraham and Sarah received the blessing of a child. God referred to Isaac as theirs; to Abraham He said: “your only son”

When God gives us a blessing – the blessing is ours! So then, because we have received a blessing. Who receives the glory? The blessing or the giver of the blessing? Too often we glorify the gift and forget about the giver. What did Abraham do with the blessed child when God told him: offer you son, your only son, whom you love, as burnt offering to me? He went all the way – until the angel of the Lord stopped him.

Are there precious gifts we have received from God that we honor more than God Himself? Is there anything God has asked of us that we are withholding from Him? Think of your most treasured possessions. For Abraham it was his only son. What is it for you?

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus spoke to the disciples regarding the rich man saying, “Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:24, 25.

Mark 10:26 – The disciples were utterly amazed and asked one another, ‘Then who can be saved?” 27 – Jesus looked at them intently and said, “For humans it’s impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” – this was the same message He had for Abraham and Sarah.

Verse 28 – Then Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 – Jesus said, “I tell all of you with certainty, there is no one who has left his home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields because of me and the gospel 30 – who will not receive a hundred times as much here in this world – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields, along with persecution – as well as eternal life in the age to come. 31 – But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Let’s give God credit for the gifts we’ve received and not withhold them when He asks for them. He has so much more that He is waiting to give us. By not withholding Isaac, Abraham was blessed with a multitude “countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore.” By not withholding the gift of our very lives we will be blessed with eternal life.

Let us believe in Jesus today.