TAKE YOUR SON / GENESIS 22:2

START YOUR DAY RIGHT DAILY DEVOTION

(KJV) Genesis 22:2

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Take Your Son: When God Tests Our Highest Love

In Genesis 22:2, we encounter one of the most jarring commands in all of Scripture. God speaks to the patriarch and says:

“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

For twenty-five years, Abraham waited for this child of promise. Isaac was not just a beloved son; he was the literal embodiment of God’s covenant and the future of Abraham’s lineage. Yet, without immediate explanation, God commanded Abraham to offer him up as a sacrifice.

While this narrative can feel intensely overwhelming, a closer look reveals that God did not actually desire Isaac’s physical death. In fact, God later condemned human sacrifice as an abomination (Leviticus 20:1-5). Instead, this moment was the ultimate examination of Abraham’s heart.

Abraham’s situation reveals two profound ways that God deals with His followers when He tests our faith.

1. The Test of Our Highest Love

God will test us to see if anything—or anyone—has captured the throne of our hearts.

It is easy for our greatest earthly blessings to slowly become our greatest idols. God asked the ultimate question: Was Abraham’s love for Isaac greater than his love for God? Through this trial, Abraham had to evaluate his deepest affections. God does not want a piece of our devotion; He demands our highest allegiance. He forces us to face our own hearts to see if we truly honor Him above all else.

2. The Test of Our Source of Hope

God will test whether our hope rests securely in the God of the covenant, or merely in the temporary blessings that come from the covenant.

Isaac was a good gift, a miraculous gift. But had Abraham’s trust shifted from the Almighty Promise-Giver to the promise itself? When God asks us to lay something down, He is checking to see if our security is rooted in our current circumstances, our wealth, our families, or our comfort, rather than in His unchanging character.

The Heart Revealed

Through this agonizing journey to Mount Moriah, God forced Abraham to look inward. Abraham passed the test beautifully, demonstrating absolute surrender and holding nothing back. As Genesis 22:12 records, the Angel of the Lord stopped his hand, saying, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

God didn’t need Isaac’s life; He wanted Abraham’s complete trust. When we are willing to hand back the very gifts God gave us, we prove that the Giver is still our ultimate treasure.

A Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father,

You are the author of every good and perfect gift in our lives. We confess that sometimes our hearts cling too tightly to the blessings You give us, allowing them to take the place that belongs only to You.

Examine our hearts today, Lord. Show us if there is an “Isaac” in our lives—a person, a dream, a career, or a comfort—that we love more than You. Give us the courage, the faith, and the radical obedience of Abraham to lay our most prized treasures onto Your altar, knowing that You are entirely trustworthy.

May our hope always rest in Your character and Your eternal covenant, rather than the temporary blessings of this world. Thank You for being the God who provides, and for ultimately sparing us by offering Your own Son, Jesus Christ, on our behalf.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Some of our Post That Might Interest You, All Out of the Current Book / Chapter

1. GOD TESTED ABRAHAM / GENESIS 22:1
2. GOD HAS HEARD / GENESIS 21:17
3. HIS SON ISAAC WAS BORN / GENESIS 21:5
4. SAID OF HIS WIFE SARAH SHE IS MY SISTER / GENESIS 20:1-2
5. THEY GOT THEIR FATHER TO DRINK WINE / GENESIS 19:33
6. SMOKE FROM A FURNACE / GENESIS 19:28
7. LOT’S WIFE LOOKED BACK, AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALET / GENESIS 19:26
8. I HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS / GENESIS 19:8
9. HOSPITALITY JUSTICE AND THE HARD TRUTHS / GENESIS 19:5
10. LOT WAS SITTING IN THE GATEWAY / GENESIS 19:1-2
11. ABRAHAM REMAINED STANDING BEFORE THE LORD / GENESIS 18:22
12. THEIR SIN IS SO GRIEVOUS / GENESIS 18:20-21
13. HE WILL DIRECT HIS CHILDREN … KEEP THE WAY OF THE LORD / GENESIS 18:19
14. IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR THE LORD? / GENESIS 18:13-14
15. THREE MEN / GENESIS 18:2
16. LAUGHED / GENESIS 17:17
17. SARAH /GENESIS 17:15
18. THE SIGN AND THE SEAL / GENESIS 7:11
19. EVERLASTING POSSESSION / GENESIS 17:8
20. TO BE YOUR GOD / GENESIS 17:6-7
21. ABRAM … ABRAHAM / GENESIS 17:5
22. MY COVENANT / GENESIS 17:2
23. NINETY-NINE YEARS OLD / GENESIS 17:1
24. AGAINST EVERYONE / GENESIS 16:12
25. ISHMAEL / GENESIS 16:11
26. THE ANGEL OF THE LORD / GENESIS 16:7
27. THE LORD HAS KEPT ME FROM HAVING CHILDREN / GENESIS 16:1-2
28. THE LORD MADE A COVENANT WITH ABRAM / GENESIS 15:17-21
29. A COUNTRY NOT THEIR OWN / GENESIS 15:13
30. HE BELIEVED … HE CREDITED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS /GENESIS 15:6
31. YOUR SHIELD, YOUR VERY GREAT REWARD / GENESIS 15:1
32. I WILL ACCEPT NOTHING BELONGING TO YOU /GENESIS 14:22-23
33. GAVE HIM A TENTH OF EVERYTHING / GENESIS 14:20
34. MELCHIZEDEK KING OF SALEM / GENESIS 14:18
35. CALLED OUT THE 318 TRAINED MEN / GENESIS 14:14
36. ABRAM THE HEBREWS / GENESIS 14:13
37. PITCHED HIS TENTS NEAR SODOM / GENESIS 13:12
38. LOT LOOKED UP AND SAW / GENESIS 13:10
39. SAY YOU ARE MY SISTER / GENESIS 12:11-13
40. A FAMINE IN THE LAND / GENESIS 12:10
41. THE LORD APPEARED TO ABRAM / GENESIS 12:7
42. ABRAM LEFT, AS THE LORD HAD TOLD HIM / GENESIS 12:4
43. ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU / GENESIS 12:3
44. LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY / GENESIS 12:1-2
45. HIS SON ABRAM / GENESIS 11:31
46. UR OF THE CHALDEANS / GENESIS 11:28
47. LET US BUILD … THAT WE MAY MAKE A NAME / GENESIS 11:4
48. A PLAIN IN SHINAR / GENESIS 11:1-2
49. BORN TO SHEM / GENESIS 10:21-31
50. THE SONS OF HAM / GENESIS 10:6-20
51. THE SONS OF JEPHETH / GENESIS 10:2-5
52. THE ACCOUNT OF SHEM, HAM AND JAPHETH / GENESIS 10:1
53. CURSED BE CANAAN / GENESIS 9:24-25
54. HAM / GENESIS 9:22
55. DRANK SOME OF ITS WINE, HE BECAME DRUNK / GENESIS 9:21
56. MY RAINBOW IN THE CLOUDS / GENESIS 9:13
57. I NOW ESTABLISH MY COVENANT / GENESIS 9:9-17
58. WHOEVER SHEDS THE BLOOD OF MAN BY MAN SHALL HIS BLOOD BE SHED / GENESIS 9:6
59. HEART IS EVIL FROM CHILDHOOD / GENESIS 8:21
60. BUT GOD REMEMBERED NOAH / GENESIS 8:1
61. EVERY LIVING THING WAS WIPED OUT ONLY NOAH WAS LEFT / GENESIS 7:23
62. THE GREAT DEEP BURST FORTH / GENESIS 7:11-12
63. THE FLOODWATERS CAME ON THE EARTH / GENESIS 7:6
64. I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU / GENESIS 6:18
65. AN ARK / GENESIS 6:14
66. NOAH WAS A RIGHTEOUS MAN BLAMELESS AMONG THE PEOPLE / GENESIS 6:9
67. THE LORD WAS GRIEVED / GENESIS 6:6
68. HOW GREAT MAN’S WICKEDNESS / GENESIS 6:5
69. THE SONS OF GOD / GENESIS 6:1-2
70. GOD TOOK HIM/ GENESIS 5:24
71. ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD / GENESIS 5:22
72. SETH … FATHER OF ENOSH / GENESIS 5:6
73. ADAM LIVED 930 YEARS / GENESIS 5:5
74. WRITTEN ACCOUNT OF ADAM’S LINE / GENESIS 5:1
75. CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD / GENESIS 4:26
76. MARRIED TWO WOMEN / GENESIS 4:19
77. CAIN … HIS WIFE / GENESIS 4:17
78. CAIN WENT OUT FROM THE LORD’S PRESENCE / GENESIS 4:16
79. A MARK ON CAIN / GENESIS 4:15
80. NOW YOU ARE UNDER A CURSE / GENENSIS 4:11-12
81. YOUR BROTHER’S BLOOD CRIES OUT TO ME / GENESIS 4:10
82. IT DESIRES TO HAVE YOU / GENESIS 4:6-7
83. AN OFFERING TO THE LORD / GENESIS 4:3-5
84. ADAM LAY WITH HIS WIFE / GENESIS 4:1
85. HE DROVE THE MAN OUT / GENESIS 3:24
86. KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL / GENESIS 3:22
87. I WILL GREATLY INCREASE YOUR PAINS / GENESIS 3:16-19
88. HE WILL CRUSH YOUR HEAD, AND YOU WILL STRIKE HIS HEEL / GENESIS 3:14-15
89. THE SERPENT DECEIVED ME / GENESIS 3:13
90. THEY HID / GENESIS 3:8
91. THEY REALIZED THEY WERE NAKED / GENESIS 3:7
92. THE WOMAN … ATE IT … HER HUSBAND … WITH HER / GENESIS 3:6
93. YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD / GENESIS 3:5
94. YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE / GENESIS 3:4
95. THE SERPENT / GENESIS 3:1
96. LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER / GENESIS 2:24
97. HELPER SUITABLE FOR HIM / GENESIS 2:18
98. THE LORD GOD COMMANDED THE MAN / GENESIS 2:16-17
99. PUT HIM IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN / GENESIS 2:15
100. TREE OF LIFE / GENESIS 2:9
101. GARDEN IN THE EAST, IN EDEN / GENESIS 2:8
102. A LIVING BEING / GENESIS 2:7
103. THE ACCOUNT – THE LORD GOD / GENESIS 2:4-6
104. GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY / GENESIS 2:3
105. BE FRUITFUL AND INCREASE / GENESIS 1:28
106. GOD SAID LET US – LET US MAKE MAN / GENESIS 1:26
107. SERVE AS SIGNS / GENESIS 1:14-15
108. IT WAS GOOD / GENESIS 1:10
109. THERE WAS EVENING, AND THERE WAS MORNING – THE FIRST DAY / GENESIS 1:5
110. LET THERE BE LIGHT / GENESIS 1:3
111. EARTH WAS FORMLESS AND EMPTY / GENESIS 1:2
112. IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED / GENESIS 1:1
113. CREWS N AWAY: ANCHORED IN GRACE

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Blessings, Margarita & Stace