Reading: Genesis 11:1-19 & John 10:14-18
- As you sit with the story of God’s invitation to Abraham to offer his son Isaac, the child of promise, (Gen.22:1-19) place yourself in Abraham’s shoes. It’s a familiar story analyzed, preached, and used both as meaningful icon of the sacrificial life of faith and Christian “jargon” through the generations. Read it slowly. Envision the sights, the sounds, the emotions, the tensions, the struggles of these two human beings, one old, the other young as they journey together to Mount Moriah. What do you observe? What do you feel? What thoughts pass through you? Where do you find your focus?
- Read it again. Listen for God’s invitations to you. What emerges in your heart? How does this story and Abraham’s choice resonate with you and your own life? What does trust and surrender look like for you right now as you journey with God?
- Now sit with Jesus as you listen to his own words, his own choice to lay down his life for the sake of God’s will and for others (John 10:14-18). What do you hear or see in Jesus as you sit with the passage? How do you view or understand life blossoming from sacrifice with regard to your own growth in the Spirit-life?
- Spend time conversing with God. Talk about your own struggles of faith, invitations to surrender, challenges to let go of outcomes and abandon into trust.