DCLM Daily Manna 12 December 2022 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Rewards For Faithfulness
TOPIC: Rewards For Faithfulness (DCLM Daily Manna 12 December 2022)
TEXT: Genesis 22:1-18 (KJV)
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
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.
3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
KEY VERSE: “And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Genesis 22:16, 17).
MESSAGE:
If there are wages of sin, there must be wages for faithfulness and righteousness. For the great justice of a holy God would not run a universe that speaks of penalty for transgressions only and not create a plan that rewards those who live faithfully by His laws. Therefore, the Scriptures present the true stories of those who failed the test of the Lord and paid dearly for it and those who were faithful to Him and were winsomely compensated.
Abraham richly belongs to the latter group. God weighed his loyalty through the only child he had with Sarah. Did he cherish the child-gift more than the Giver? His faith in a Creator who had quickened the couple’s reproductive systems and who could also raise the dead did not fail him. God’s own steady faithfulness to him challenged him to pass the test.
The inhabitants of the world of the 21st Century have their own tests to determine if they are heaven-bound or earth-rooted. The Lord has given us great wealth, wisdom, knowledge and understanding to invent mankind’s most startling technological and scientific devices ever witnessed. Do we allow these to deny the centrality of God in our affairs? Have these taken away the time of worshipping and honouring the Lord? Would we be willing to sacrifice the ‘Isaacs’ of our personal carnal pursuits at the altar of the Lord?
It is an everlasting spiritual and physical investment to surrender our ‘Isaacs’ to God. The Lord has incredibly prodigious wages for those who submit to Him. Abraham was rewarded for his faithfulness, with the Lord swearing by Himself not only to increase him, but also to establish his seed as the fountain of blessing for “all the nations of the earth.” What overwhelming wages for faithfulness!
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God rewards faithfulness.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Isaiah 42-45
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
