My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. Genesis 22:8.
As they drew near the mountain, “Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” These endearing words, “My father,” pierced his affectionate heart, and again he thought, Oh! That I, in my old age, might die instead of Isaac….
Isaac assisted his father in building the altar. Together they placed on the wood, and the last work preparatory to the sacrifice is done. With quivering lips and trembling voice, Abraham revealed to his son the message that God had sent him…. Isaac was the victim, the lamb to be slain. Had Isaac chosen to resist his father’s command, he could have done so, for he was grown to manhood; but he had been so thoroughly instructed in the knowledge of God that he had perfect faith in His promises and requirements….
He comforted his father by assuring him that God conferred honor upon him in accepting him as a sacrifice, that in this requirement he saw not the wrath and displeasure of God, but special tokens that God loved him, in that He required him to be consecrated to Himself in sacrifice.
He encouraged the almost nerveless hands of his father to bind the cords which confined him to the altar. The last words of endearing love were spoken by father and son, the last affectionate filial and parental tears were shed, the last embrace was given, and the father had pressed his beloved son to his aged breast for the last time. His hand is uplifted, grasping firmly the instrument of death which was to take the life of Isaac, when suddenly his arm is stayed…. “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” …
Our heavenly Father surrendered His beloved Son to the agonies of the crucifixion. Legions of angels witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God but were not permitted to interpose as in the case of Isaac. No voice was heard to stay the sacrifice. God’s dear Son, the world’s Redeemer, was insulted, mocked at, derided, and tortured until He bowed His head in death. What greater proof can the Infinite One give us of His divine love and pity?—Signs of the Times, April 1, 1875.
From the Heart p. 204
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for several prayer requests: 1. A little baby under two whose alcoholic and drug dealing father is wanting to take him away from his mother. 2. A neighbor who is being made to move out of her family’s home after she has spent much money remodeling it. 3.Bud and his wife who were in a bad car accident and are in the hospital. 4. Joann who just got out of the burn unit. M
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
When I was nine, my mother and I vacationed at Wisconsin Dells. That tourist town was much different in the 1950’s than it is today. (It was smaller and much quieter.) We saw all there was to see and did all that there was to do. One day, we happened to pass by a fish farm. I had always enjoyed going to the fish hatchery in my hometown, so I wanted to see all of the fish on this farm.
There was one big difference between the fish hatchery in Kalamazoo where fish were raised to release into the area’s lakes and streams, and this tourist-trap fish farm. Here I could catch them for sport. Ha! Some sport!
The owner took us to one of the ponds and gave me a pole and some bait. Then he threw in a handful of fish food. Suddenly the water was churning as countless numbers of trout vied for a tasty morsel. He instructed me to start fishing. Within seconds my pole bent as a trout had taken my bait. I was delighted. My mother had paid for fishing privileges for two fish, so the process was repeated. She took a picture of me holding my fish. I was so proud of my catch.
When I got older, I realized how impossible it would have been not to have caught those fish. Those poor animals were trapped in a small pond. They were in a feeding frenzy as they all competed for the fish pellets. My bait was just another bit of food to them, but there was one big difference. My bait had a hook attached.
How often this world has a hook attached as well. The evil one gives us just enough worldly pleasures to cause us to think that all is well, that we are having a good life. Then when we least expect it, we are hooked. He has us in his grasp. We become alarmed and try to free ourselves just like that trout on my fishing line but soon find that we are as helplessly caught as were those two rainbow trout.
How much we need deliverance from the fishing-line of sin! Praise God, we have a Saviour Who is a mighty to save! (Isa 63:1) He can untangle us from the cords with which the enemy has bound us! “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” 2 Sam 22:2-4
We serve a Living Saviour Who longs to free us from the devil’s snares if we will ask Him to do so. Indeed, He “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14 Wonderful Saviour! Paul exclaims, “thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” 1 Cor 15:57, 58
May we turn away from the fishing lines of the evil one and cling tightly to our Only Salvation allowing Him to deliver us from the fishpond of sin is my prayer.