Advent-ure Day 4: God Will Provide the Lamb

Yesterday, we were talking about Abraham and how he was a man called by God, a man who walked by faith.  God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.   He made a covenant with Abraham, and His people, chosen by Him, would be blessed.  In Hebrews 11, we read about the faith of Abraham:
17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,18of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called,"19concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
As Abraham and Isaac were ascending Mount Moriah, Abraham, in obedience to the Lord, was willing to put his son to death. In Genesis 22:8, Abraham spoke these words: "God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering..."  Abraham was willing to surrender His son to the hand of Almighty God, as a lamb for an offering.  God was willing to surrender His Son, as well, to be a perfect sacrificial lamb to atone for our sins.   The Lord called Abraham to give everything, and Abraham trusted Him and did not even withhold his son from the hand of God.  God is calling us to sacrifice our lives, which may call for testing, but we can always know that His ways are best.

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In Day 4 of our spiritual Advent-ure, we see a tremendous picture of God's willingness to give up His only Son, so that He might redeem fallen humanity.  The man of faith, Abraham, was called to surrender His son on Mount Moriah, according to Genesis 22:

9Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.10And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.11But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am."12And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."13Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.14And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The Lord it shall be provided."
God provided! In a powerful way. And, this story speaks to us about a God who was willing to give His Son to die so that we might come to know Him. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, a substitute for our sins, and as we surrender our lives to Him, we can experience a love relationship with the One who held nothing back so that we could be saved. The story of Abraham and Isaac teaches us that we serve a God who is full of love toward us.

The story is also one of faith, a story of trusting God even when He calls us to do something difficult. Abraham turned His son over to God, and I think it can be instructive for us as we think about surrendering our children to His care.

God called Abraham to a position of total trust, and while this was a unique challenge with which Abraham was presented, it can remind us about the importance of total surrender to God with respect to our children.  The Bible tells us that our kids are gifts from the Lord, and in our approach to them, we recognize that we are in partnership with Almighty God in the teaching, the training, the nurture, and the direction of their lives.

The National Center for Fathering has conducted and posted extensive research into the impact of fathers on our society at large. For instance, its website quotes a Pew poll from last year that found that fathers are much more likely than mothers to say they are not spending enough time with their children.  46 percent said they spent too little time with their children, while 50% said it was the right amount.

A Career Builder Survey quoted by NCF found that 48% of working fathers have missed a significant event in their child’s life due to work at least once in the last year and nearly one in five (18%) have missed four or more.

One in four (25%) working dads spend less than one hour with their kids each day. 42% spend less than 2 hours a day.

Then you have data that has emerged from homes where there is not a father present.  The National Center quotes data that indicates that children from fatherless homes are more likely to be poor, become involved in drug and alcohol abuse, drop out of school, and suffer from health and emotional problems. Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, and girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens.

Fathers matter, and NCF makes this statement: Some fathering advocates would say that almost every social ill faced by America’s children is related to fatherlessness.

I will be at the Fatherhood CoMission Leaders' Summit at the WinShape Retreat Center in Rome, GA this week, which is attended by Christian leaders who are attempting to strengthen fathers and their families and attempting to address issues that are confronting dads.  I look forward to gathering information to help me be a better father and to encourage listeners in their parenting journey. 

We can recognize that through surrendering to God and His principles, recognizing them as His gifts entrusted to us, and then in turn relinquishing our kids to Him, that we as fathers can have a powerful impact on our families.   God is a loving Father to us, who has made it possible for us to know His love and to experience His truth - we can rely on Him to direct us and strengthen us in our relationships with our children.