22 April 2011

Psalm 22; Gen. 22:1-14; 1 Peter 1:10-20; John 13:36-38

Why didn’t the Lord just leave this old man alone? He had followed the Lord for 25 years believing in the promise of offspring without seeing any fulfillment and now the Lord tests Abraham by telling him to take Isaac to Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering. The faith that began the story, the faith to leave kith and kin behind and go to the land God would show is incredible but here Abraham’s faith is something truly to behold. A lifetime of following and trusting God led him to set out early in the morning and begin this journey. It led him to tell his servants that he and the boy were going to worship but would return. It led him to tell Isaac that the Lord would provide the sacrifice and it led him to lift up the knife against his son. The man had faith that is inspiring.

Peter wants to be brave, wants to believe he has true and unwavering faith to go wherever Jesus goes, no matter how dark no matter how terrible. Jesus warns him that where He is going Peter cannot yet follow but will follow after. His faith isn’t ready yet for such trials as Jesus is about to face, his faith will fail and he will deny any knowledge of Jesus three times before the morning breaks. Can you imagine what Peter was thinking when he heard Jesus say this? He had to have believed his own words, his own bravado, but he couldn’t have imagined what he was about to see and hear. We need always be humble about our faith, our faith should never be in our faith but in the Lord. Peter hadn’t yet learned that lesson.

We have been ransomed from the futile ways of our ancestors by the blood of Christ. We were taken captive by sin, by Satan’s wiles, and were held by him in the sway of sin and when Jesus came, He paid the ransom for our sin to restore us to the Father, our creator, to restore the image of God in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to be newly made creations in gratitude for the grace we have received. Peter says we are to commit our lives to holiness, is that what we have done? It is a humbling thing to hear those words and know that we are also those who are the very reason for Jesus’ death on the cross. We are called to live anew in Him. Let us commit our lives in faith to holiness.

There's a wideness in God's mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in his justice,
which is more than liberty.
There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.