God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about…

…7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

It’s father’s day – and I quote verses about Abraham getting ready to sacrifice his son… I know, it seems strange, but there are at least two great lessons to learn from this passage, one for fathers and one for children:

• For fathers: Our job is to teach our children, not just by words but by example. Our responsibility is to teach them to serve and obey the Lord. If God asks us to do something and we say no, we are teaching our children that they should only obey when they want to obey. If God asks us to do something that we believe will affect our family, and we say no, then we are teaching our children that we know better than God, that it is our responsibility to protect our children – even against God. Abraham taught Isaac by example. It may have been tough for both of them but Abraham knew that trusting and serving God was more important than anything else. Guys, what society teaches you about it being your responsibility to protect your family is true, but serving and trusting God completely IS protecting your family, no matter how crazy or dangerous what he tells you to do may seem.
• For children: Sometimes, the things our parents do seem wrong or weird. Sometimes the decisions they make are impossible to understand. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Isaac, having his dad tie him up and lay him on an altar ready to kill him? He must have been wondering why his dad would do that. Did his daddy really love him? Of course he did! He loved him enough to show complete obedience to God, no matter what the cost. Listen to what your father is teaching you and watch what he is demonstrating to you about obeying God no matter how hard it may seem – and watch how faithful, trustworthy and protective God is!

Happy father’s day everyone!

If you have time, you could also check out these great posts:

• Trey Morgan posted a great video
• Billy Coffey wrote a great post in praise of fathers.
• Kevin Martineau posted a video – which might make you cry
• Ron Edmondson wants to encourage you to be a dad, dad.