-March 20, 2022-
Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,
“And Abraham called the name of the place, ‘The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’”
(Genesis 22:14).
God tested Abraham’s faith in asking him to offer his only and well beloved son, the son of his old age and his promised heir Isaac to the Lord. He set off early in the morning for the place of God’s own choosing: Mount Moriah, the very spot that hundreds of years later His Son Jesus Christ would give His life for us on the cross. Coincidence, yes but divine coincidence, to fulfill God’s plan.
Abraham, Isaac, and a few young servants made the journey that day. Abraham in faith said to the young men in Genesis 22:5, “…Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.’” Abraham believed that even if he sacrificed his son, God would raise him from the dead. When Issac asked where the lamb was, he answered again in faith, “‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So the two of them went together” (Genesis 22:8).
Just when he held the knife in his hand to slay his son, God stopped him, and provided a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham offered it up instead of his son. Imagine the joy, relief, and blessing Abraham felt at that moment. God spared Abraham the pain that He did not spare Himself at Calvary. The ram was the substitute for Isaac. He named the place, “The Lord-Will-Provide,” not the Lord provided, because by faith he looked forward to the cross of Christ still hundreds of years ahead. In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided. God would provide the Lamb.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, and opened the way for people who believe in Him to be saved. Paul writing in Romans 8:32 said, “He who did spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things.” We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. All things belong to us because we belong to Christ.
Since God provided for our greatest need of salvation, He has promised to meet all our needs of all other things as well. There is a beautiful song that says, “Sing hallelujah, God hath provided the Lamb, O sing hallelujah, God hath provided the Lamb.” Let us rejoice that He provides for us daily His richest blessings and and meets all our needs.
Have a blessed Lord’s Day worshiping the Lamb who provided for us and will provide for us. Stay safe and healthy.
In His wonderful love,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 