Jesse Tree: Isaac

Scripture: Genesis 22:9-18
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Event/Theme: Abraham's willingness to give everything to God
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Symbol we use: I collected some twigs from a tree and bundled them together with a cord to represent the wood carried by Isaac for the burnt offering.
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Meditation: God provided the sacrifice. He stopped Abraham from sacrificing his own son once it was clear that Abraham was willing to do so if that was what God asked him to. Then generations later God allowed His own Son to be the sacrifice. How difficult that must have been! Perhaps one of the reasons He waited until the last minute to stop Abraham was that maybe Abraham struggled with the decision to obey or not. Maybe it wasn't certain until the last minute, even to Abraham himself, whether he would choose to put God first or his son first. But once it was clear, God was ready to intervene and provide another sacrifice. Jesus is the sacrifice for us, provided by God to replace the sacrifice we can't quite afford to give.