The Benefits Of Giving God Your Best

*Genesis 22:1-22:19

*Hebrews 11:17, ?By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son?.

-What if you gave to God only tenth of the time you devote to your own house?

-What if you gave to God the same way that you give to uncle sam? The first part of your salary, before you use it for your own needs and satisfaction.

-What if God told you to give back to him what is most dear to you. What you prayed for and recieved after much waiting.

Later on God tested Abraham?s faith and obedience. ?Abraham!? God called.

?Yes,? he replied. ?Here I am.?

2 ?Take your son, your only son?yes, Isaac, whom you love so much?and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you.?

3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son Isaac. Then he chopped wood to build a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place where God had told him to go. 4 On the third day of the journey, Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 ?Stay here with the donkey,? Abraham told the young men. ?The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.?

6 Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac?s shoulders, while he himself carried the knife and the fire. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac said, ?Father??

?Yes, my son,? Abraham replied.

?We have the wood and the fire,? said the boy, ?but where is the lamb for the sacrifice??

8 ?God will provide a lamb, my son,? Abraham answered. And they both went on together.

9 When they arrived at the place where God had told Abraham to go, he built an altar and placed the wood on it. Then he tied Isaac up and laid him on the altar over the wood. 10 And Abraham took the knife and lifted it up to kill his son as a sacrifice to the Lord. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord shouted to him from heaven, ?Abraham! Abraham!?

?Yes,? he answered. ?I?m listening.?

12 ?Lay down the knife,? the angel said. ?Do not hurt the boy in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son from me.?

13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering on the altar in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place ?The Lord Will Provide.? This name has now become a proverb: ?On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.?

15 Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven, 16 ?This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your beloved son, I swear by my own self that 17 I will bless you richly. I will multiply your descendants into countless millions, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. They will conquer their enemies, 18 and through your descendants, all the nations of the earth will be blessed?all because you have obeyed me.? 19 Then they returned to Abraham?s young men and traveled home again to Beersheba, where Abraham lived for quite some time.

(I) Giving is a Test Of Faith and obedience.

(V.1) ?God tested Abraham?s faith and obedience?.

1. What we give to God reveals the measure of our faith.

2. What we give to God reveals how obedient we are to Him.(OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE)

The rewards of faith and obedience;

* James 1:25

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

God asked Abraham for his very best gift

*Gen.22:2

?Take your son, your only son?yes, Isaac, whom you love so much?and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you.?

-The son that he had prayed for.

-The son of the promise.

-What he desired the most.

-What he needed the most.

Our faith is not really tested until God asks us to bear what seems unbearable, do what seems unreasonable, and expect what seems impossible.

Consider how unreasonable God?s request was.

-Isaac was Abraham?s only son, the son of the promise.