19th December 2014
God tests His people
Greg Simnor
Hi family,
Key thought this week: “God tests His people.”
God tests us to see whether we will put Him first in our lives. He creates opportunities for us to be tested to see where our hearts truly lie.
God tested Abraham, asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar. Would Abraham obey his Lord? Did he truly love God more than his beloved son[1], the son of God’s promise?
God tests our hearts and looks at our response to Him. A great question to ask is, “why does He do this? What is God looking for, and why?”
All this is a temporal example of a spiritual dimension and reality. God uses the temporal to teach us the spiritual.
The way that Abraham responded to his test is the key to all of this. Abraham didn’t falter and think twice but acted immediately to obey what God had commanded.
When the disciples were invited to follow Jesus the bible says they acted immediately[2].
The blessings that Abraham and the disciples received were incredible, and the eternal reward that we have to look forward to is greater still.
God was testing them and He is testing us. Let's be a people who rise to the test and prove our faith and commitment to God by trusting in Him and doing what He asks us to do and becoming who He has called us to be.
Here are some questions to ask ourselves:
1. What is God looking for from us when He tests us?
2. What gets produced in us through the testing?
Please feel free to respond with any thoughts that you have on this passage and the questions by email or leave a comment on this post on our discipleship blog: http://therock.org.nz/blog/
Have a favoured week,
Greg