"Give Up Everything"

Take your son, your only son, whom you love ... and sacrifice him. Wow! Why did God make such a radical demand? It is not hard to imagine that over time this loved child could usurp God’s place as his first love. An only child. A miracle child. A long-awaited child. A promised child. The elevation of his child would have happened so gradually that it would have gone unnoticed—except by God. Now God wanted to know if Abraham loved Him more than he loved his child.

At the apex of Jesus’ earthly ministry, when large crowds were traveling with him, he delivered a message that his public relations consultant would have screamed at. He warned the crowds that unless they give up everything, they cannot be my disciple. Jesus was not a religious huckster who wanted to pad his statistics by recruiting casual followers.

Like God did with Abraham, Jesus wants us to lay everything that is precious to us on the altar. And He will test our love to see if we truly love Him first. Maybe a son decides to join the military and go to Iraq: “O.K. Lord. He is your son, not mine.” Maybe you have an investment that that erodes most of your savings: “Yes, Lord, all my money is yours. Help me to be faithful in using it.” Maybe you are diagnosed with cancer: “O.K. Lord I understand that I am not in control of my life. I give it back to you.” I have a friend who has struggled to submit the use of his outdoor leisure to God. How did God get his attention? He had a number of close calls—one time he was nearly killed in a collision with a deer, another time he nearly drowned: “O.K. Lord. I don’t want my leisure to be more important to me than you are.”

As disciples of Jesus we must hold everything loosely, remembering that everything is given to us on loan. What do we cling to? What are we afraid of losing? our kids? our job? our spouse? our retirement? our leisure? our money? our health? our house? If we don’t lay all of them at Jesus’ feet we cannot be his disciple.


November 12, 2006 assignment: Read Gen.25:19-28:22.

November 19, 2006: Read Gen.37-50.