My wife teaches a preschool class on Wednesday nights at our church. And this year we're progressing through the Old Testament chronologically. Recently the lesson was on Abraham and God's call for him to sacrifice his long awaited only son, Isaac, on an altar. She discussed with me that she considered skipping the part about God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and rather focus on the substitutionary ram that God provided in the thicket. She didn't believe children that young would understand a Father being asked to kill his own son. The lesson for the night could be that God provides.
Eliminating a portion of a Bible story bothers me. It seems we frequently do that when scripture makes us feel uncomfortable. Or when we don't understand something. Let's just skip it. Focus on what we know and like. Hmmmm. For preschoolers it might make sense to eliminate the sacrifice part of Abraham's story. I think the real problem arises when we as adults forget to put it back in! Of course, we still believe God provides. In fact if you look around you, it is evident God provides bountifully for us. But where is the sacrifice part? Doesn't God ever test our obedience today? Doesn't he still ask us to give up something or even everything for Him? I think He does. I believe Romans 12:1 is still true today. We are still called to be "living sacrifices." Sacrifice is as much a part of the Christian life as blessing.
This Christmas season we might do well to keep in mind the beautiful story of Christ's birth ended with a Father sacrificing His only Son.
