Here Am I for the Great I Am: Making Sense of Obedience
/Recently, my Monday mornings have been spent pouring over my notes from Sunday sermons. When you are given such rich truths, you want to make sure they take root!
Sunday morning, Pastor Joe opens the Word and brings a word. He then challenges us with that word to obediently live the Word so we can give the Word to a world desperate for a word. We know that the only word that can bring a word worth hearing and heeding is God‘s Word, so we’ll start there again today (and every day), as we learn what it truly means to trust and obey...
Genesis 22. I’m sure you’re familiar with this passage. I thought I was, too, until I found out Isaac was much older than I had imagined him when he made the multiple day journey with his father to Mount Moriah to carry out an act of obedience that would be hard at any age or life stage.
I’ve always thought Isaac was this young boy (likely a toddler), walking alongside his dad, maybe even carried by him at times because of the long trek they had up that mountain. But as Pastor Joe recapped this story as he read and reread details from the text, emphasizing timelines and connecting the series of events with the previous and following chapters, he concluded Isaac was likely 37 years old at the time of this journey.
I know. Shocking, right? For those of you to whom this is new news, I’ll give you a minute. Believe me, I’ve taken quite a few myself yesterday and today, dissecting the text, looking for myself, seeking to truly understand that which I cannot fully comprehend.
And that, dear friend, is what Bible study is all about — reading the Word in a way that It can read us, teach us, and beseech us to live according to It. God’s Word is alive and active. (Hebrews 4:12) It changes us, from the inside out, so It’s not just something we talk about, it’s our deepest desire to live it out.
So, when I recovered from the shock of discovering how old Isaac was at the time of this event, I was able to glean these three lessons about OBEDIENCE.
Obedience is easier when we have confidence in our leader.
Obedience is better than sacrifice, but oftentimes in our willingness to obey, there will be a price to pay.
Obedience doesn’t always make sense in our humanness, but in light of eternity, the only way is to trust and obey.
I’d love to take some time to unpack these, if you’ll just agree to hang in there with me.
Obedience is easier when we have confidence in our leader.
When you know the message reflects God’s Word, you trust the messenger’s motive is not merely to be heard. Or as Pastor Joe put it...
“Be a voice, not an echo. In the Church, we have a lot of echoes and not a lot of voices. If two sound the same, one is not necessary. God has given you a unique voice. Use it.”
Abraham was found faithful because he did what God asked him to do when God asked him to do it. He acted immediately and obediently. It was not easy, and it did not make sense, but He was confident in God’s leadership, and God was confident in Abraham’s stewardship. It was the strength of their relationship that led to Abraham’s future leadership as the “Father of Nations.”
Abraham’s obedience mirrored God’s confidence. Genesis 22:6-8 paints a picture of father and son going willingly “together” to Moriah to accomplish God’s will. Abraham and Isaac’s relationship and obedience mirrored the confidence present in the relationship between Father God and Jesus the son as they went willingly “together” together to Calvary to accomplish God’s plan to set us free.
Charismatic leaders appeal to emotions and may change minds, but transformative leaders inspire devotion and that’s what changes lives.
Obedience is better than sacrifice, but oftentimes in our willingness to obey, there will be a price to pay.
Obedience is costly, and delayed obedience is disobedience. It is far easier to delay than to obey. Pastor Joe told a story yesterday about a time he and his wife were preparing for an anniversary getaway. In his preparation to leave his people and his places, he asked the Lord to take care of things while he was away. The moment he prayed it, the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart and said, “Joe, who do you think takes care of it all while you’re here?”
That little nudge from the Holy Spirit that day revealed a life-changing truth in Pastor Joe’s heart. Our lives are not our own. They have been given to us that we might live them for Him. As Pastor put it...
“When you take your life (that really belongs to God) and live it the way you want, that’s stealing.”
We are here to live for Him. “We must not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” (Romans 12:2) It’s a transformation that reflects His image, His life, His obedience.
Notice the way in which Abraham answers “the call to obey” in this passage. First, he answers Isaac his son (v.7), and then Abraham answers the angel of the Lord, a messenger from his Father (v.11). His response (in the KJV) both times is “Here am I.”
We know God Himself is the “Great I Am.” When we willingly obey and simply say, “Here am I,” we are literally reflecting (like a mirror image) the “Great I Am.”
Obedience doesn’t always make sense in our humanness, but in light of eternity, the only way is to trust and obey
God’s glory is reflected through us, as His story is written in us.
We must always mirror our Maker — at any age or life stage. He leads the way. We simply obey. Willingly and obediently.
Isaac was old enough to realize something seemed “off” about this sacrifice he and his father were getting ready to offer. He carried the wood. He asked about the absent lamb, but he trusted his father to trust God’s plan. Even as Isaac was bound to that wood and laid on that altar, Abraham was willing to follow through with what he knew he must do.
But in the eleventh hour (and ironically starting in the eleventh verse), God spoke through an angel, changed the plan, and provided a ram.
In their humanness, Abraham and Isaac did not understand, but in their obedience, they trusted God’s plan.
There is a bigger picture that reveals a higher calling. It requires obedience if we want to see it. Obedience that demands our confidence in God’s plan.
Our lives are not our own. We were made in His image to reflect His glory. We do this best when we die to self.
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:35
Here am l for the Great I Am. Even when obedience doesn’t make perfect sense, His perfect peace can be our confidence.