Is there a such thing as partial surrender? Can you just waive your white flag and say you can take this land over here but the other part is still mine? Can you be married and still have a girlfriend other than your wife? Can you be divided and still be whole?
Imagine for a minute that I am sitting at my desk at home and my wife walks in. She comes up behind me to catch me looking at a picture of a naked woman on my computer. I can almost tell you word for word what her response wouldn't be. She would not tell me that I have a right to my privacy and that what I do on my own time is my own business. The conversation would involve a lot more yelling, screaming, tears, and her standing over my unconscious body(the yelling and tears would be from me and my cries for help). When I made my marriage commitment to her it was made with the expectation of undivided devotion to her and her alone.
In the same way my relationship with Christ carries the same expectation. If I have learned only one thing in my walk it is this, Christ will not share a throne in your life. You either allow Him to be the Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. He doesn't share the spotlight. That goes for everything thing and everyone in our lives. He doesn't share!
As I have studied and read Genesis 22, God gave Abraham more than just a test to see how devoted a follower of God he was. As a father of six children, 4 boys and 2 girls, I can not imagine the feeling of dread and grief of losing a child let alone having to lay one on the altar for a sacrifice to God. He called on Abraham to lay down his one and only son, Issac, in surrender to the will of God.
In reality, the call of God wasn't for surrender at all it was for Abraham to kill his son. His only son. The child that he and his wife Sarah had waited for over ten years to receive. The son that God had promised Abraham many years before. I can't imagine what he was thinking when God told him that he would have to take his son to the mountain, build an altar, tie his son up, and sacrifice him to God. The weight of that must have been humongous. I think as we read this we sometimes lessen the impact that this story should have on us, especially fathers. I mean really allow that to sink in to your mind and heart.
Imagine having to load lumber into your truck, pack enough food and supplies for three days, drive into the Rocky Mountains, and when you arrive at the predetermined destination you have to build an altar so you can tie up your first born and only son to sacrifice to God just because that is what He told you to do. All the while your son doesn't know what is going on and he just thinks this is a fun trip with dad. The weight and the gravity of that befuddles my mind. I can't comprehend that sort of devotion to God. And I am thankful that I don't have to.
When Abraham reached the mountain, he built the altar that God had commanded, tied up Issac, and placed him on the altar. The story goes on to tell us that as he raised the knife to sacrifice his son to show his devotion to God and His plan, that God showed up. Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back." I believe that Abraham believed in his heart that God would keep the promise that God had made him many years before. That God would make him the father of many nations and that his son would be raised from the dead as long as Abraham followed God's instruction and kept to God's plan.
The moment that Abraham raised the knife he showed God that he was "all in" and that he was willing to go as far as necessary to complete the work that God had for him. He knew in his soul that God was on the throne of his life. He knew it in his bones.
Is God on the throne of your life? Or is money, power, sex, pornography, drugs, alcohol, a relationship, or anything else that takes the place of Christ in your life. He doesn't share His rightful place in your life or mine. And until we totally sell out and allow Him to have His rightful place in our lives we will never receive the blessings that He has for us.
Imagine for a minute that I am sitting at my desk at home and my wife walks in. She comes up behind me to catch me looking at a picture of a naked woman on my computer. I can almost tell you word for word what her response wouldn't be. She would not tell me that I have a right to my privacy and that what I do on my own time is my own business. The conversation would involve a lot more yelling, screaming, tears, and her standing over my unconscious body(the yelling and tears would be from me and my cries for help). When I made my marriage commitment to her it was made with the expectation of undivided devotion to her and her alone.
In the same way my relationship with Christ carries the same expectation. If I have learned only one thing in my walk it is this, Christ will not share a throne in your life. You either allow Him to be the Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. He doesn't share the spotlight. That goes for everything thing and everyone in our lives. He doesn't share!
As I have studied and read Genesis 22, God gave Abraham more than just a test to see how devoted a follower of God he was. As a father of six children, 4 boys and 2 girls, I can not imagine the feeling of dread and grief of losing a child let alone having to lay one on the altar for a sacrifice to God. He called on Abraham to lay down his one and only son, Issac, in surrender to the will of God.
In reality, the call of God wasn't for surrender at all it was for Abraham to kill his son. His only son. The child that he and his wife Sarah had waited for over ten years to receive. The son that God had promised Abraham many years before. I can't imagine what he was thinking when God told him that he would have to take his son to the mountain, build an altar, tie his son up, and sacrifice him to God. The weight of that must have been humongous. I think as we read this we sometimes lessen the impact that this story should have on us, especially fathers. I mean really allow that to sink in to your mind and heart.
Imagine having to load lumber into your truck, pack enough food and supplies for three days, drive into the Rocky Mountains, and when you arrive at the predetermined destination you have to build an altar so you can tie up your first born and only son to sacrifice to God just because that is what He told you to do. All the while your son doesn't know what is going on and he just thinks this is a fun trip with dad. The weight and the gravity of that befuddles my mind. I can't comprehend that sort of devotion to God. And I am thankful that I don't have to.
When Abraham reached the mountain, he built the altar that God had commanded, tied up Issac, and placed him on the altar. The story goes on to tell us that as he raised the knife to sacrifice his son to show his devotion to God and His plan, that God showed up. Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back." I believe that Abraham believed in his heart that God would keep the promise that God had made him many years before. That God would make him the father of many nations and that his son would be raised from the dead as long as Abraham followed God's instruction and kept to God's plan.
The moment that Abraham raised the knife he showed God that he was "all in" and that he was willing to go as far as necessary to complete the work that God had for him. He knew in his soul that God was on the throne of his life. He knew it in his bones.
Is God on the throne of your life? Or is money, power, sex, pornography, drugs, alcohol, a relationship, or anything else that takes the place of Christ in your life. He doesn't share His rightful place in your life or mine. And until we totally sell out and allow Him to have His rightful place in our lives we will never receive the blessings that He has for us.
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