Recently I lost Emily at Kmart. She doesn’t normally wander away, but when she didn’t see me she thought I had left her. How many times have I told her, “I would NEVER leave you”? But, leaning on her own understanding, Emily went out the door in a hurry!  When I looked up she was GONE. Without a trace! I called her name repeatedly, but she could not hear me!  After tearfully wandering in the parking lot for a bit, Emily actually thought about asking the taxi man to take her home, or maybe she could walk home by herself. But more than she wanted to be home, she really just wanted her mommy! Shortly my daughter was discovered by a K-Mart employee, who took her back inside the store. Emily went along willingly and sorrowfully, knowing she was helpless and in danger of being run over or stolen away, and very sorry for not staying with her mom. We were tearfully but happily reunited a few moments later, and I spent the rest of the afternoon recovering from a near heart attack.

What a picture these circumstances lend us.  If you have wandered from the Lord, there are some things you need to realize.  First of all, God has promised that will never, ever leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), so stay right in the place where you were last with him. Keep doing what you know he wants you to do for this moment, and the next, and the next, until he makes himself known to you again. When you don’t “see” him, don’t panic. He is still there. Just trust him and wait on him.

Second, as a wandering Christian, you are not “lost”. You are still saved. Unlike me, our heavenly Father is never an irresponsible parent (*blush*). If you are truly saved, he is holding you in both hands, never to let you go. (“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John 10:28,29; “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:10) He knows where you are at every moment, even when you are far away from him! (“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." Psalm 139:7,8) He knows that when you are away from him, you are not only helpless, but you are in danger, too. You are in danger of losing your way, as Demas did (2 Timothy 4:10), in danger of wild beasts (“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Peter 5:8), and in danger of living without the blessings of God on your life. Are you aware how precarious your circumstances are?

Next, before you can get help finding the Lord again, you have to be willing to admit that you have left him! That is called confession. Real repentance will make you willing to turn around and go back to him. No one can make you go back to fellowship with Christ if you don’t want to, but aren’t you miserable without him? The Bible says the Lord Jesus calls his sheep by name. Can you hear him calling your name as you wander? He loves you and he left all to win your soul, just as the good shepherd left the ninety and nine to find the one little sheep that had left him. (“How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?” Matthew 18:12.)  You belong to Jesus Christ!

Finally, what a joyous occasion it will be when you and your Saviour find each other again! He is a good God, a wonderful Saviour! The Bible says there is actually joy in heaven when a sinner repents! (“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth”, Luke 15:7)  The whole population of heaven is excited about your return. There is nothing better than being restored to fellowship with Jesus, except not losing that fellowship in the first place.  I was SO happy to have my dear child back, and Emily has stayed very close to me ever since.  But we both would have been better off not going through that experience! 

If you have never been saved, the Bible says you are in darkness, and you do not know where you are going.  You may think you know where you are, but you do not know the way Home.  If you have been saved and you are away from God, going Home might be the easy way out, but having your fellowship with Christ restored right now would be so much better! Be warned – getting back to him will take longer than it did to get away from him.  But the results will be worth your trouble.

I was talking recently with a friend who was having a very difficult week.  She had many complaints, but the biggest one was of her own attitude in the midst of all her trials.  She was spiritually dry.  Parched.  Cooked.

As it just so “happened”, the Sunday morning message at her church at the end of that awful week seemed to be directed right at her.  You know how that is, don’t you?  She had been desperately thirsty for some encouragement, for some empowering from God’s Word, and she told me it was there that morning like water in the desert.

Water in the desert.  We all know how important water is here in the desert Southwest.  Just as water is vital to our physical survival, God’s Word is vital to our spiritual survival.  It seems so amazing and refreshing to us when God seems to know (but of course he knows!) just what we need from his Word when our hearts are lonely, burdened, despondent, or frightened.

Do you remember Hagar? Hagar and her son Ishmael were cast out into the wilderness.  While wandering the wild and desolate land they soon depleted their water supply. Hagar left her son to die, and then she lifted up her voice and cried.  Here she was, wasted, far from home, far from her daily water supply.  Sometimes we wander far away from God’s Word, too, don’t we?  But when Hagar despaired, God, in his infinite mercy, heard her. The Bible says he opened her eyes, and right in front of her she saw a WELL! Water! Life!  God showed Hagar the source of life, and he gave her just what her soul and body craved.  He did not provide her with just a teaspoonful of water, but a lifetime supply!

What would have happened to Hagar if she had seen the well, but had not drawn out the water? How many times have you been spiritually dry, and neglected to open your Bible or receive the preaching of it? That God-given water was the saving of Hagar’s life and the life of her child.  All she had to do was draw it out. The Word of God is the saving of our spiritual lives, as well. I am glad to be able to report that my friend took of the water of life freely that Sunday morning.  She was spiritually revived and energized!  Praise the Lord for his provision!

God’s Word is like a well for us.  There is plenty there to satisfy our thirst! If, in your heart, you have been wandering in the wilderness, cry to the Lord for understanding, for comfort, for courage, for help as you read or listen.  He loves you and cares for you just as he did Hagar and her son. He is ever ready to show you just the thing your soul is longing for!  Don’t turn away from it, and don’t be satisfied with just a teaspoon of relief – keep going back for more.  Get your fill of God’s life-sustaining Word!

Some time ago as I was reading through Psalm 119, I decided to make a note of all of the things I was instructed to DO with God's Word, either by example or by direct command.  As I then continued to read through my Bible, I also continued to write these things in the flyleaf of my Bible. Too bad I didn't note the references.  Do you have any additions?

What to Do With God's Word

walk in it

keep it

respect it

learn it

take heed to it

seek it

hide it in my heart

rejoice in it

meditate on it

delight in it

long for it

take counsel in it

understand it

talk about it

choose it

adhere to it

observe it

love it

trust in it

hope in it

find comfort in it

remember it

think on it

turn to it

know it

consider it

abide in it

perform it

fear it

esteem it

stand in awe of it

praise it

publish it

thank God for it!

“But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.”  Luke 9: 45

Have you ever been afraid to ask God about a particular passage of the scripture? I have. Soon after I was saved I began to hear preaching and to come across Bible literature about a lady’s wardrobe.  It wasn’t just about modesty, for if it had been, I would not have been bothered.  I thought I was modest. (It’s amazing how the Bible opens blinded eyes!) This stuff I was hearing and seeing had to do with women wearing pants, and how God designed women and men, and what the Bible has to say on the subject of a woman’s wardrobe.  For some weeks I pondered and wondered.  I searched the scriptures, looking for a verse that said my outward appearance didn’t matter. (It wasn’t there.) Then I began to argue with God.  While I didn’t want to be a rebel against the Lord, I also didn’t want to submit to his will if it meant giving up my pants.  What would my family and friends think? Wouldn’t people look at me strange if I only wore skirts?? How could I afford a new wardrobe?!

The whole question could have been solved much sooner for me, if I had just asked God the clear meaning of the passages I had read. But I was afraid to ask him! I think I already KNEW what God wanted me to do. So why was I afraid? Did I think submitting to his will was going to make me miserable?  Did I think God wanted me to feel conspicuous? Was he going to destroy my comfortable LIFE?  Did I think God just did not know what he was doing?  After all, in our culture, women wear pants. If I gave in to this, what else was he going to demand from me?  (Pants on ladies is not the subject of this post, so keep reading, and don't send me any hate mail.)

Since that time, other similar issues have come up for me, issues that I was afraid to ask the Lord about -- how he wants me to act towards or react to the unloveables in my life, what he wants from me now that he owns me, what kind of missions offering does he want me to give? The Bible has the answers to all of those questions. Certainly I have not gotten the victory over every fear concerning what God might ask of me, but I do thank the Lord for this promise:

“For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56

There is nothing that God could ask of me, that, if I obey him, will make my life miserable.  Oh, I might be afraid to give up this security blanket or to be put into that uncomfortable situation or to humble myself, but I know now that on the other side of obedience there is joy and a peaceful conviction that I am in the will of God.

My husband knows a man who thinks maybe the Lord is calling him to be a preacher.  This man is afraid to ask the Lord about it, because he is afraid of the answer. A call to preach would mean EVERYTHING that his family is comfortable with would change.  They would have to move away, take a very serious pay-cut, and move into the spotlight as a preacher’s family. He would have to learn to speak in front of people on a very regular basis (oooh!), and come up with messages that he is convinced are from the Lord, to feed his church. The burden to pray would be great.  The burdens of his church family would add to the burdens of his own family. His wife would be a preacher’s wife, and his children would become PK’s.  His dreams and aspirations for this life would go up in a puff of smoke! Now that’s scary! Is God set out to destroy this man’s life and that of his family?  No.  God wants to save his life.  God may be giving this man an opportunity to serve him right in the center of His perfect will. What an opportunity!  What peace can be found when God’s answer is known AND acted upon. 

What does God want for your future or your career (or lack thereof)? What does he want you to look like, and how does he wish for you to spend your free time?  Are you afraid to ask him? If you are God's child, he has a wonderful plan for you. His plan for you is better than any of your own plans. Go his way.  It may take a leap of faith to ask him what it is, but you won’t regret following him in it.

      "Short" tipped me off to this recent story in the Jerusalem Post.  What a thing!  Imagine losing your diamond jewelry in the city dump because your child threw it in the trash! This writing is not about forgiveness, though it does lend itself to that topic.   Rather, it is about losing and retrieving things that are valuable.
     A man in Luke chapter 15 lost a sheep.  He had 99 others, but even this 1% was a costly possession. He searched high and low for the wandering sheep, and finally, he found it.
     A woman lost something more valuable to her than a sheep.  It was a silver coin, one of ten. That woman moved furniture, shook rugs, picked up clutter, and swept her entire little house searching EVERYWHERE for 10% of her savings.  Finally her hard work was rewarded!
     A young man left home and took his inheritance early, throwing away 100% of it on parties and wild living. When he was done having a “good” time he was left with less than nothing!  He didn’t even realize it was gone until he was sitting in pig slop. But it wasn’t his money that was truly valuable – it was the home and loving father that he had thrown away.  The young man had to humble himself and forsake his pride to get those precious things back.  All three of these people realized, at some point, the value of the precious item they had lost.
     Sometimes we Christians lose things, too, whether inadvertently or purposely.  Many have lost their purity, or their good reputation, or their honor. Some have thrown away their talent; others, a precious relationship. Thanks be to God that we cannot be so careless as to lose our salvation!
     If you have lost something that you are now realizing was truly valuable, you will find it just in the exact spot where you left it.  You may have to search or sort through a lot of trash to find it, but it is there. Have you lost your fellowship with your Father? He is right where you wandered away from him. He does not change; he does not move.  “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you,” James 4:8. Did you throw away a talent that the Lord gave you to honor him with?  You still have it. Start again where you stopped using it.  Ask the Lord to forgive you for counting that gift he gave you a small thing. What about a personal relationship?  Did you know that you really can’t serve the Lord properly if a brother or sister has something against you? The Bible says to be reconciled.  You don’t have to dredge up the past and hash over details.  Just say, “I’m sorry. I have not done right. I know I offended you.  I did not forgive you. Will you please forgive me for bearing a grudge?” It is amazing how powerful those words are. Your relationship with that person is still there, right where you left it.  Do you value it enough to get it back?  People are not for throwing away.
     Some things, such as purity, are gone forever when they are thrown away.  But there is forgiveness with the Lord. You can be pure again in your heart. Forsake those things that have made you impure, and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to wash you in his blood. He is willing and able to cleanse you from “ALL unrighteousness"! 
     It is a wonderful thing that the precious things we have lost or thrown away don’t have to stay lost.  They may be buried in a dump, but they are not irretrievable. Jesus Christ knows the exact place where they will be found again, and if you will ask him, he will help you to get your treasure back.  Your story can have a happy ending!

P.S. Thanks, Short!

We are getting ready to go on a little trip, and if I were the type of person to have stress (haha), I would be stressing out about now.  I have a ton to do before we go, the least of which is blogging.  I was saving this post for later, but I am going to do it now, and then I am going to pretend the computer blew up so I can concentrate on doing all the stuff I need to take care of. So enjoy, and have a nice time while we are away :o)  Back in a while!

Mother’s Day is coming soon, and is a great opportunity for us to show and to tell our moms how much they mean to us.  Of course, we ought not to wait for this once-a-year occasion to honor our mothers.  If we are truly grateful we will tell them often how much they mean to us. However, because I recently wrote a birthday essay for my mom on what she means to me, this Mother’s Day my thoughts are not so much on my own mother, but on what kind of mother I am.  

      Lately I have considered Lot’s wife.  Read Genesis 19. Here was a woman who had at least four daughters.  Two of them were young enough to be living at home when the judgment of God fell on Sodom, and the angel of the Lord carried them away with their parents from the storm of fire.  But where were the other two daughters?  What kind of mother was Mrs. Lot? What could she have done differently while her daughters were growing up, to avert their tragic end?  When they were little girls, did their mom show more enthusiasm about shopping than she did about going to the Lord’s house?  Did it mean more to her to wear the world’s fashions than it did to have a beautiful heart for the Lord?  Did she sow the world's music and attitudes and activities and philosophies into her girls’ hearts so that when the time came to leave, they could not uproot the pride of life from those worldly hearts? 

The Bible tells us to remember Lot’s wife.  Many believe Mrs. Lot looked back because she regretted leaving behind her possessions and her social life and standing.  But I believe Mrs. Lot looked back because she had left her own children in Sodom. One day soon Jesus Christ is going to come in the clouds to "catch up" those that are alive in Christ, from the coming wrath of the Great Tribulation.  Will your children go with you to heaven? Or will you have left their hearts and bodies in this old wicked world, full of themselves and the pride of life? If they are left behind in Sodom, you will look back with regret, too! Mamas, don’t expect your little ones (or your old ones!) to get a heart for Jesus just by being in church. You must live the Christian life before them daily. Sow the love of Jesus into their hearts! Sow obedience to his Word! Sow faithfulness and peaceful trust in the Lord! Read God’s Word together. Memorize and live scripture together. Pray for them and with them!

Before I ever had children, I prayed the Lord would not allow me to have any that would not be saved. That prayer cost me six babies and many tears, but not bitter ones. My babies are with Jesus Christ. Those were blessed, having departed before they could live after their mother’s example. But what about the four beautiful girls who are with me now? What kind of example am I giving them today? The Bible says, “As is the mother, so is her daughter,”  Ezekiel 16:44. ..."Remember Lot's wife." When the Lord takes me home, may my daughters’ hearts be full of Jesus, and void of love for worldly things. And may the Lord make my heart and life today what my children need as an example, so that when he comes for me, they will rejoice and come along! With my children next to me, I won't be looking back at this Sodom, grieving for the girls I left there.

I am sitting here waiting for the kids to get ready to go… it promises to be a very hot day again today (105F?), so we are off to the lake for a dip.  I used to think of “the lake” as a beautiful green spot with a tree-lined shore, and a nice big dock for sunning and diving.  Well, my header photo gives you some idea of our lake – it is HOT HOT HOT.  There is NO SHADE, not anywhere near the water, unless you are a spider.  It is rock and dirt and a few scattered weeds, maybe a snake or two, God forbid.  Did you know that some rattlesnakes swim?  I hope they think the water is too cold today… Later in the summer, the kids won’t want to go swimming when it is this “cold” out.  The evaporative effect of the desert is incredible, and makes you freezing cold when you are wet! I’ll post pics later.

Anyway, while I am waiting, I wanted to tell you what God taught ME in the children’s Sunday School lesson that I gave yesterday.  We were talking about Mary of Bethany, how she poured that precious ointment on the head and feet of her Saviour and filled the room with the wonderful fragrance, then wiped his feet with her hair… It hit me as I was telling the story, that Mary was close enough to Jesus to walk away smelling like him. He told the disciples that she was preparing his body for burial. That fragrance in her hair must have reminded her constantly of his death and resurrection, for this took place in the last days of his life. How often did women wash their hair in those days?  I would never want to wash my hair again, if its fragrance would remind me of my Jesus all the time!  Would a woman be likely to cut her hair if she were in mourning?  I wonder if Mary of Bethany cut her long hair off and kept it somewhere, to save that wonderful fragrance of Jesus…  I think I would have wanted to.

And another thing, the disciples were unhappy with Mary for “wasting” all that expensive perfume, which might have been sold, and the money given to the poor.  Did you know that nothing that God's children do for Christ is ever wasted?  I know of a young woman who desired with all her heart to play the piano. She told the Lord that if he would give her opportunity to learn, she would play ONLY God’s music.  The Lord heard her, and he taught her to play beautifully. She played only for him.  When asked to play “Happy Birthday”, she would say, “No, I’m sorry.  I promised the Lord that I would play only His music.” People said, “What a waste!  She is making a foolish sacrifice. She could play for an orchestra or accompany someone famous, and make lots of money with her talent!!”  Maybe she could, but they were wrong.  Like Mary, she committed her most treasured thing to Jesus.  That is no waste. And after what He has done for me, how can anything that I give to him be called a sacrifice??

(If you go to MBC and are reading this, STOP! It will be in the newsletter :o)

     The alarm clock beeps.  Clumsily I grab at it, taking too long to find the button to turn it off.  My mind is coming out of the dark, but I can’t get my eyes open yet.  In a few minutes I roll out of bed.  I know right where to reach for my old glasses, and I can find my drawer for something to wear. But until I put in my contact lenses, I really can’t see very well. For that reason, putting in my contacts is one of the very first things I do each morning.

     One day as I was doing just that, it dawned on me that my Bible is also a corrective lens, without which I cannot see clearly to get through the day.  Without my Bible first thing, I don’t recognize the stumbling blocks of temptation. I don’t recognize God’s presence in my moments.  My steps are uncertain and fearful, because I have forgotten that light for my path. When I am looking through the lens of the morning news; or the inconvenience of getting breakfast for kids,  when I wanted to do other things; or an aching body, the day’s image is completely distorted. What a pathetic condition, and yet, how simple to correct it!

     It is important to start out each day looking through the right lens.  The more Bible I put in, and the sooner I do it, the more clearly I can see.  I can focus on the details of God’s working in my life and in the lives of others, details that I miss without his Word in my “eyes”. Join me as I purpose (again) in my heart, to daily (and early) use the corrective lenses God gave me for my spiritual sight.

This post is for those of you who, like me, tend to compare yourself with others, and get to feeling glum about yourself or your homeschool.  I see a trend in the blog world that is much akin to digital photography and airbrushing.  Shall we call it “digital blogtography”? You’ve seen the Dove Campaign For Real Beauty video, haven’t you?  A woman walks into a set and sits down. She is not unattractive.  She does look rather plain, but if she had combed out her hair and put a nice natural smile on her face, she would have been transformed. For the next several minutes, the video shows in fast motion her skin tone evened out, make-up applied, eyebrows drawn on, eyes and lips painted, and hair styled. A fan blows her hair to give her that model look. She now looks beautiful, but artificial.  Next comes the real magic.  Digital technicians use computer software to lengthen her neck a bit, raise the centers of her eyebrows, widen her eyes, lengthen her nose, raise her cheekbones, fill in her lips, highlight her hair, and augment the various colors of her face.  The new image is then plastered to a billboard.  The final image looks nothing like the woman whose face it is. The video illustrates the evolution of what we perceive as beauty, but the end is fictional.  Oh, sure, there is a real woman, but the woman on the billboard does not exist. The point of the video is to show women that that by which we measure outward beauty is a false standard. Real beauty comes from within us. We compare ourselves to an impossible goal!

As I have clicked from blog to blog, visiting various friends and random posts, I can’t help feeling that what I see is similar to this video.  I see an end product that is fictional.  Oh, I am not accusing anyone of anything false – I myself am guilty of it.  On my blog, I only want to share with you the positive things about my family, my spiritual life, and our homeschooling experience. Yesterday I posted about my wonderful husband, the finisher. I didn’t tell you about any of his faults, or the things about him that absolutely frustrate me.  I have never mentioned the fact that the top of my fridge hasn’t been wiped off for a year. I don’t want anyone to know how I really reacted when one of my kids disobeyed me, or when the toilet overflowed, or when the neighbor’s loud music drove me to distraction. (I am making all these things up, of course, lol!)  I don’t post those things! So then, what you see on my blog is a distortion of what my life and my home are really like.  Have you ever found yourself feeling like you don’t measure up somehow, when you read my blog? Maybe not, but if you do, you are comparing yourself to a false standard.

The temptation is strong for me to envy your orderly schedule or the fact that your family gets to travel all over, or that your house is clean and beautifully decorated, or that you have it all together spiritually. But a particular verse often comes to my mind when, like Dinah of the Bible, I am out seeing the “daughters of the land” from my computer.  It is 2 Corinthians 10:12, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” I don’t want to be fretful about all the things I see in you, that I have not been endowed with or worked for, such as diligence, industry, consistency, etc.  I want to be wise and compare myself not to others, but to Jesus Christ.  God is equipping me with what I need to teach my children and to be a good mom to them. I must to be grateful to him for the place where I am, and to be content with the circumstances in which I am teaching my kids.  And so must you.

With the spring festivities coming up, I just have to say this.  I am sure many of you have heard someone say that the word “Easter” in Acts 12:4 in the King James Bible was an “unfortunate rendering” of the original Greek word for “Passover”, and that the word “Easter” really doesn’t belong in the Bible.  Any time someone corrects the Bible, beware.  It means one of two things.  Either they don’t believe it, or they don’t read it.

Many Bible critics say the word “Easter” should have been translated “Passover”.  The word “Easter” is correct, and I will show you why. The key is Acts 12:3, “(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)”  That seems like a trivial point, but if you regularly read the whole Bible from cover to cover you can’t miss this. Leviticus 23:4-8 gives instructions concerning the Passover celebration and the days of unleavened bread. Read it. The fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish calendar is the Passover.  That day is immediately followed by seven “days of unleavened bread”. Acts 12:3 said, “Then were the days of unleavened bread.”  That means the first day, the Passover, had already taken place!

Acts 12:1-4 tells us that at this time Herod the king had already killed James, and that he intended to have Peter killed also. What was Herod waiting for?  He was waiting for the Easter festival, not the Passover, to take place! The Passover was gone. Easter had been a tradition for him and his religion for many centuries. Easter is and always has been a pagan fertility festival and comes from the word “Ishtar”.  Ishtar comes from the worship of Ashtoreth (1 Kings 11:5 and others), a female deity who was also called Diana in some cultures, ie. Ephesus (Acts 19:28). Easter was (and is) a big celebration and a big deal.  Herod was waiting for Easter to pass, because HE was going to observe it as a heathen GENTILE.  So does Easter belong in the Bible? Yes.  Is it Christian? No.

Easter is not about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It never has been.  It is about rabbits and chicks and eggs, all symbols of fertility. As a pagan festival, it has been mixed with the resurrection. God desires us to worship him in truth. As Christians, we observe the joy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ daily, for without his resurrection we are lost. The next time someone tells you “Easter” doesn’t belong in the Bible, you will be armed with the truth and ready to correct their lazy scholarship.

 “For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. (…) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  But now is Christ risen from the dead…” 1 Corinthians 15:16-20 . Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!

Did you ever wonder why Jesus is called the “Lamb of God”?  John the Baptist, in speaking of Jesus, said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” What did he mean, the Lamb of God?  Where did he get that name for the Lord Jesus?

Blow the dust off your old King James Bible and look at Genesis 22.  In obedience to his God, Abraham is on his way to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his only son Isaac (the son of promise). Abraham tells his two servants, “Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” Somehow Abraham knew in his heart (that is, he believed) that even if he followed through in sacrificing his son, God would resurrect Isaac in time to return to the servants when they were expected. “I and the lad will (…) come again to you.”

As the two make their way up the mountain, Isaac wonders where the lamb is. He knows they need a lamb, a pure, innocent lamb, in order to approach the living God in the prescribed manner, for, “without shedding of blood, there is no remission.” Abraham replies, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”  Did you see that? God will provide HIMSELF a lamb!  You are familiar with the rest of the story, how that Abraham lays his son on the altar and is just about to kill him, when God calls out to him to stop. Isaac gets down, and they find a ram caught in a thicket. Here God provided a lamb FOR himself. That sacrificial lamb took Isaac’s place. But some 2000 years later, God provided HIMSELF, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb, to die in MY place.  “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Isn’t that awesome?!?!