God promised Abraham that Abraham would have a son. Even though Sarah had been unable to have children and even though she and Abraham were too old, God kept his promise and Isaac was born (Genesis 21:1-2). When we arrive to Genesis 22, God instructs Abraham to do the impossible, to take his only son, the son he loves and sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering. Genesis 22:3-5, tell us about Abraham’s response.

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey,

and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son;

and he split wood for the burnt offering,

and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey,

and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”

This is the first time worship is mentioned in the bible. Abraham told his servants, “Isaac and I are going up the mountain to worship.” Notice Abraham’s worship. There was no church service. There was no singing, no melody. What worship was in that pivotal moment was obedience to the Lord and sacrifice. Even though Abraham never had to go through with sacrificing Isaac, his worship and obedience foreshadowed what God was going to do with His son. Just as Isaac had the wood on his back, traveling up the mountain, Jesus had a cross on His back as He traveled up to Golgotha to be crucified for the sins of the world. Jesus is God’s expression of His mercy toward us.

It’s in response to God’s mercy for us that we worship Him. Our worship of God is more than a song or more than attending church. Our worship of God is obeying His will and being a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1, Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

This simply means that we bring our every day to God. Our eating, our sleeping, and our walking around life are brought before God as an offering, holy and pleasing to Him. It’s obedience to what God is calling us to do in all areas of our life. Bringing a sacrifice has to be worked out in every area of our life. This is our true and proper worship.

While we worship God through obedience and sacrifice, let’s never lose our view of what Father God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord!

Learning to obey and sacrifice,

Pastor Tom