When theory meets reality …

Have you ever talked to your television?

Probably so.

Whether it’s providing your own response to a political commentary, reacting to a referee’s call on the field, or warning the young lady not to go down into the basement in the spooky house that just lost its electrical power … at some point, you’ve probably expressed a few words with your television.

That’s because we’re full of theories.

If that’s not you, then you’ve known people like that. You’ve likely known the person who not only is loaded with theory for anything they may face, but have plenty of theories to share with others about their own lives. They can tell just about anyone how to live or what to do … until the tough stuff becomes their own reality.

Then opinions change.

Another way I’ve heard it put is, “Yes, but what if it was your own child? Then you would think differently!”

There are many who claim to have a deep faith and a well-developed biblical theology, until they face crisis. Then, what they’re willing to tell everyone else about how to live goes out the window. When they have to make a tough decision, or when their child has grievously sinned, they are suddenly ready to part with their theoretical faith …

… when it’s their daughter who has become pregnant …

… when it’s their son in jail …

… when it’s their spouse popping the pills …

… when it’s their boss handing the money under the table …

Abraham didn’t have a television to talk to, but he was known to have a well-developed faith. His was not theoretical, it was tested. And it was his child who was at the center of the test.

“Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. ‘Abraham!’ God called. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Here I am.’ ‘Take your son, your only son — yes, Isaac, whom you love so much — and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you,'” Genesis 22:1-2.

In one short conversation with God, theory met reality for Abraham.

Now what?

For Abraham, circumstances had no impact on living out his faith in God.

“The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ‘Stay here with the donkey,’ Abraham told the servants. ‘The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.’ So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘We have the fire and the wood,’ the boy said, ‘but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?’ ‘God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,’ Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice,” Genesis 22:3-10.

Even at the expense of his only son, who he loved greatly, Abraham was not willing to disobey God. His faith, and his commitment, were real rather than theoretical. God rewarded his obedient faith …

“At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ ‘Yes,’ Abraham replied. ‘Here I am!’ ‘Don’t lay a hand on the boy!’ the angel said. ‘Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.’ Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son,” Genesis 22:11-13.

How real is your faith? Is there anything God is asking of you that you think is asking too much? Are you willing to go only so far in obeying God? Or have you laid before the Lord everything you love and hold dear?

Scotty