DAY 6

THE OFFERING OF ISSAC

Abraham answered. 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering...'  
-Genesis 22:8 

PAUSE
Abraham was a man who loved and trusted God. But did he trust God with his whole heart? God blessed Abraham. But now God asked Abraham if he would worship Him even when it was hard. God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and show Me how much you love Me by giving him back to Me as a sacrifice.” God asked Abraham to sacrifice the very thing he had dreamed of and longed for: his son Isaac. Abraham remembered God’s goodness and faithfulness, so in the morning he obeyed by taking Isaac to the mountain. Abraham believed in God’s promise that Isaac would grow up and have a family. He trusted they would somehow come back from the mountain together. As they walked up the mountain, Isaac asked Abraham, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” They kept walking and found a place to build an altar.  After it was built, Abraham was sad. He didn’t understand God’s plan, but he did believe that God was bigger, stronger, and better than anything in the whole world, so even if Isaac died, Abraham believed that God could raise him to life again. So, Abraham lifted his knife and, just then, God called out, “Abraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the boy. Now I know you love me more than anything because you have not kept your only son from me.” Then Abraham looked up and found a ram caught in the bushes and realized that God had provided the lamb for the sacrifice! Abraham and Isaac then worshiped God on the mountain together, and God blessed Abraham. Many years later, God would provide another lamb, His only son, Jesus, who would take away our sins.

DISCUSSION
What does it look like to trust God with your whole heart? 
Have you ever felt like God was asking you to give up everything you thought He blessed you with in the first place? 
Love always means sacrifice. What sacrifices, born out of love for God, have you made?
How did God provide for you in the process?

PRAY
Thank you, God, for being my provider. Thank you for loving me so much that you would give your one and only son, the lamb of God. Help me to have faith and to trust in you.

FAMILY ACTIVITY
Talk about all the ways God has blessed you. Make a paper chain and write one blessing from God on each strip. Glue or tape the strips together and hang them on your tree!