Love the Lord, not the Gift











As Christians, we are mostly familiar with the Genesis 22: 1-19 where God tests Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his son. Now, we know how Abraham must have been anguished by that request. Why the All-knowing heavenly Father would need to know about Abraham’s faith, if he can know our minds and thoughts?
God tested Abraham to make sure that his gift (Issac) did not interfere with Abraham’s relationship with God. The whole test was also a lesson to us, that we must love and fear the Lord, more than his gifts to us.
How many times have we cut short our prayers and bible reading time to attend that piano or swimming class? How many times have we skipped praying so that we could prepare for that final examination better? (Of course, some of us don’t study at exams at all and start praying in hope to pass that subject for which we bunked classes all the time... that’s a different story 😁)

  1. What we usually over look is the fact that our special talents of singing, playing a piano, dancing etc. were given by God in the first place. As a Christian, it is important for us to use that talent for God’s glory first. Skipping our time with God, so that we can enjoy his gifts more is not a healthy choice.
And yes, cutting down your time with God for that Church choir practice counts as an ‘unhealthy choice’ too. Nowhere in the bible does God agree on compromising his time with us. You can go for that choir practice, yes. But that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice your personal timings with God. God’s touch in your life starts with YOU first. And then he starts touching your family, friends, church etc. through you. If you don’t have a strong personal relationship with God to receive his touch, your personal growth as a Christian will be affected.

Abraham was anguished, yes. But still he chose to obey Lord’s command and did not let his gift distract him. In return, he was blessed abundantly. Will you do so too?

~Lilac Blossom

Disclaimer: The above work is my own, which I had written after listening to various sermons on the topic. Any resemblance to existing works is purely coincidental.

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