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The Good of the Best?!

Has God ever asked you to give Him something that is precious to you? Maybe it was a relationship ... or a habit ... or an attitude ... or a commitment of time? God is in the business of asking us to sacrifice something that we hold dear - so that He can bless us with something extraordinary!!

God tested Abraham in this very way by requiring a sacrifice that was more than Abraham was humanly possible to give. God asked Abraham to take his son, Isaac, and to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain. God actually said to Abraham, "Take your son, Isaac, whom you love !" (Genesis 22: 1 & 2)

God did not ask Abraham for something that was not valuable to him or something that he could easily live without. God did not require from Abraham a mere convenience - God asked for something that Abraham loved!!

What is God asking you to give to Him today? I can guarantee you that it will be something that you love dearly ...something that you treasure ... something that is of utmost value to you! Sacrifices are never easy to give - otherwise, they would not be a sacrifice at all!

Maybe God is asking you for your time and you are already way too busy! You may feel that your life is spinning totally out of control and yet God calls you to Him. He calls you to spend more time in prayer or perhaps to teach Sunday School.

Maybe God is asking you for more of your cold, hard cash!! You think that Disney World is looking like a lot of fun - but God is calling you to spend your vacation at an orphanage in Honduras. You think that cash flow is oh! so important ... while God requires complete and total trust.

Perhaps God is asking you to re-evaluate and then re-arrange your preferences. You are addicted to a Sunday afternoon nap while God needs you to mentor a young mom who is utterly and completely overwhelmed. You might treasure that Thursday evening spent at the mall - while God is asking you to spend more time on your face!

God is not asking you for your asparagus ... He is asking you for your chocolate!

As He did with Abraham, God always asks us for more than we can humanly give!

However, I have to tell you that the story of Abraham and Isaac is not complete without reading these verses at the close of this dramatic chapter: "By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son whom you love, indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Genesis 22: 16 - 18

When you give what you love to God - the blessing will be enormous! You will not be able to calculate the abundance of God's giving back to you when you are willing to obey and then to sacrifice. The blessings of this sacrifice will last for generations beyond even your lifetime!

God always asks for more than we can give - but then gives back to us more than we could ever ask!