God…Was That You?

Verse of the day: Genesis 22:2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

In John 10:27, Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” How well do we know Jesus voice? When we stop and think about what God commanded Abraham to do, and how Abraham, without hesitation, and by faith, responded to God, it is definitely a reflection of the intimate relationship he enjoyed with the Lord. As a matter of fact, because of his faith James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was called a friend of God. The bottom line is that it is possible to recognize the voice of God, and be able to differentiate between His voice, and that of the enemy. How often have we been in a crowd, or just walking along, and heard the voice of a friend or a loved one call out to us, and we immediately recognized it and turned to acknowledge them? This is how easily we, as born again believers, should be able to recognize our Savior’s voice. When we consider what is happening in Abraham’s life at this moment, we must consider where he came from. Being from Ur of Chaldees, Abraham would have been very familiar with pagan gods and the practices that went along with worshiping them, to include human sacrifices. So, in hearing God command him to sacrifice his only son, he would have to have known, without a shadow of a doubt, that this was indeed the One True and Holy God. When we read this command, besides the fact that God had every intention of stopping Abraham before he actually killed Isaac, how would we reconcile this if God had actually allowed it? Well, the answer to that is that God is the Creator of life, and therefore has every right to command the death of anyone He pleases to accomplish His will and plan. As a matter of fact, this was one of the reasons King Saul lost the throne, for disobeying God’s command to kill the Amalekites (men, women, children, and all their animals) in 1 Samuel 15. God can choose to work “outside of the box” in how He uses His servants. In Judges we have the account of how Samson desired to marry a Philistine woman, which was contrary to God’s command to not intermarry with those who were of other idolatrous cultures. Yet, the Scripture clearly tells us that when his father and mother objected and asked if there was no woman among the daughters of their people (the Israelites), they did not know that what Samson was doing was of the Lord (Judges 14:1-4). In both the case of Abraham, and Samson, God was working “outside of the box” to accomplish His will and plan in both their lives. However, in Abraham’s case, he heard the command directly from God Himself; and although seemingly contrary to what God would ask, he recognized that this came from the One True God. How are we doing in our walk with the Lord? Are we missing out on great blessings because we do not recognize the voice of our Lord? Are we allowing our own inner voice or the voice of the devil to guide us, rather than the voice of God? Judas listened to Satan’s voice in Matthew 26:14-16, and he betrayed Jesus. Peter listened to the voice of Satan and received a rebuke from Jesus (Mark 8:31-33). Unlike in Abraham’s day when God would speak directly to His people, we today have God’s Word, and this is the method God uses to speak to us today; for this reason, it is of utmost importance that we read and study God’s Word, and pray continually. When we commit God’s Word to memory, and learn His principles, the Holy Spirit uses it to guide us in our walk and daily decision-making. Knowing God’s voice means knowing God’s Word, and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit speaking to us; and when we hear it, obeying it. Hebrews 3:7 tells us that the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” There may those times when God seems to be leading us in a direction that may not make sense to us. Abraham chose to obey God’s voice, rather than hold on to the son that he loved because he trusted, without a shadow of a doubt, that God would still fulfill His promise to multiply his seed, even if he gave back his only son; simply because He is God. Do we know our God so well that we can differentiate between His voice and all those other voices that would like to lead us astray in our walk and faith?

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).