Worship
By Peggy Kleckner
“He (Abraham) said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey, while I
and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you…”
Genesis 22:5
(NIV)
How many of us in the church are
stepping aside with our Father, trekking up the mountain alone with Him to
worship?
Imagine yourself as the son in this
story as he willingly carries the burden of the wood for the fire, gladly
walking beside his father. (If you’re unfamiliar with the story, read Genesis 22:1-19
and Hebrews 11:17-19.)
Did the trek suddenly seem long, the
weight heavier as they moved further up the mountain? Is this what motivated
the question later, “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?” I think too often we accept the words of Scripture without
feeling the cumbersome weight of them. Isaac walked uphill feeling the weight
of his burden, yet the pleasure of his father’s company. As believers, isn’t
that what our experience is as we enter into worship?
Let’s walk with them further. What
about when they got to the top of the mountain and Abraham built the altar and
still there was no lamb? Can you feel the confusion that Isaac must have felt?
What about when he allowed his father to bind him and lay him on the altar? Why
would he do that? He trusted his father. As believers, do we trust our heavenly
Father when it seems that we are called to be bound and laid on an altar of His
choosing? Are you there? Do you feel the fear, the questions? Lying still in
submission to our Father, waiting for the knife, not understanding, unable to
comprehend this new picture of our Father, yet still trusting. Your mind
questions His goodness, even as your heart fully submits. Are you able to lie
still?
Seemingly hopeless, helpless, “But
the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven ….‘Do not lay a hand on the
boy,’ he said. ‘Do not do anything to him.’”
Your physical and emotional anguish
at full measure, and suddenly, all is stopped by a few short sentences…..words.
Now what do you feel?
“Abraham looked up and there in the
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 [instead of you].”
Now can you see Jesus? Can you see
Him with your heart, your emotions? Can you feel the price paid for you?
Isaac came down the mountain without
his burden, and having experienced true faith and worship. May we do the same.
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
Has God invited you to a closer look at sacrifice and worship?
2. Are you still trying to pay the price for
your own sins?
FURTHER
READING:
Peggy is a wife and mother of four
adult children - - two sons and two stepsons, and is an active encourager at
Oakwood Church in Delafield.
