The Cost of Obedience

God never ceases to amaze me, by what He shows me, how He blesses me and how He teaches me lessons through life's simplest experiences.

The other night, I was reading the kids a goodnight Bible story. Each child has their own "picture" Bible, one for Kaitlyn (a girl book) and one for Jake (a Bible aimed at a boy). Kaitlyn was finishing up her story she was reading to me and Jake when he raised up his book and asked me to find the story about "that big guy".

I knew this was the story of David & Goliath, a story that's becoming one of his favorites as it was mine when I was his age. I can remember numerous times sitting in my grandfather's office when he'd stop preparing for Sunday's message to tell me some of those great Bible stories, especially David & Goliath.

Anyway, as I reached for Jake's Bible-story book, he stopped and showed me a cartoon picture that seemed to concern him greatly.

"Daddy, what is that?" he asked me softly.

I looked and there was a drawing of Abraham and Isaac. Isaac was bound and laying on an altar as Abraham was holding a knife in his hand.

"Uh oh" I thought to myself. "How am I going to explain this without scaring him? Lord, please give me the wisdom and discernment I need to share Your plan with my kids."

"Well" I replied "that's a knife."

"Is he going to cut that boy?" Jacob asked.

"Ummm...well...he WAS going to but God told him to stop and to not hurt Isaac" I said, hoping to bring some light to this subject.

"Why is he not going to cut him?"

"Because Abraham showed God he would obey him, no matter what God asked him to do" I replied. "This made God very happy and not only did He stop Abraham from cutting Isaac but He told Abraham that because he obeyed Him, He would make his family as big as there are stars in the sky. Isn't that cool?"

"But he isn't going to cut that boy anymore, is he" Jake asked, still somewhat concerned. "Why was his daddy going to make him die?"

"Oh boy..." I whispered to myself.

"Well Jake, God wanted to see if Abraham would obey Him and He knew how much Abraham loved his son, just like I love you!! But Abraham, as sad as he was to hear this from God, knew that deep down, God knew best and would make it all work out" I said with as much bounce and happiness in my voice as I could muster.

"Then, he got that boy down from the table and they went home?" he said softly.

"Yes. They went home and were very happy God had been good to them" I said.

Jake sat there for a minute and looked at the picture. And then, I noticed something...

Tears began to form in his eyes and his little voice began to get choked up and cracked.

"I bet Isaac was sad and was crying and scared when he got home because he missed his mommy" Jake said in a raspy voice.

That was about all I could take. I sat up and reached for Jake and pulled him close to me, hugging him and rubbing his back in a reassuring manner.

"Yeah, you're probably right" I said, trying to hold back my tears. "You know what Jake? Daddy loves you very much and Mommy loves you very much. We don't want you to worry about us ever hurting you, OK? God doesn't ask Daddies and Mommies to do that to their kids. He wants us to love and protect our kids and help them to be good boys & girls...just like you and Kate."

"God was just showing Abraham how important it was to learn how to obey and how it's good to obey. But I don't want you to ever worry about us hurting you, OK?"

He nodded his head and cleared his throat.

"OK Daddy" he whispered.

You know, how often do we stop to think about our obedience to the Father? How far would we go in doing what He asked us to do? Granted, I don't believe God ever asks us to do anything that would contradict what His word says in the Bible. He talks very plainly about how strongly He opposes murder and human sacrifice. Jesus was very open about His love and affection for the little children as well, reprimanding the disciples who were trying to keep the kids away from Him.

But there are times in our lives when we feel God is asking us to do something out of our realm of comfort. Be assured though...He will never ask us to do anything alone or anything outside of His will and plan for our life.

Our mens' study group is discussing a topic just like this in our Tuesday night get-togethers. How far would we go to obey God? Would we do what He asks us to do or would we ignore Him, giving Him every reason in the book why we can't do something? It's been quite a discussion and very thought provoking.

What will be the cost for our obedience to Him and His will for our lives? Do we worry about the immediate and what we might lose now (ie: material things, a move to a new location, a new job, etc) or do we trust in Him fully, knowing He's got our best interest at hand and that through whatever He asks us to do, He will be there with us the entire way?

I pray that whatever and whenever He asks something of me, my faith in Him will be strong enough to trust in Him completely. Like the old-time gospel song says...

"He never has failed me yet."

May God grant you peace, rest and blessings today. Have a great week.