When you surrender everything to God, you’re free
Abraham’s second great test for idolatry came when God commanded him to do the unimaginable.
Genesis says, “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘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’” (22:1–2).
This is now decades after Abraham’s first encounter with God, and God has given him the desire of his heart by making possible the miraculous birth of a son through his wife Sarah. The Lord gives; sometimes he takes away.
The Lord knew how Abraham felt about Isaac. God called him “your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.” He knew Abraham had for decades focused his hope on having a son, and once Isaac was born Abraham loved him above all. God also knew that his blessings can replace him in people’s hearts. Consequently one of the most harmful things that can happen to us is to get what we want. We can only find true life in our loving Creator. Because of his jealous love for Abraham God had to test to see if Isaac had become his god.
The test was stark: him or me? Obey me and sacrifice Isaac. Protect Isaac and disobey me. Which will it be?
God does what is right
The subject of testing teaches much about God. He tests for exclusive worship because of what he said in the Ten Commandments: “I the LORD your God am a jealous God” (Exo. 20:5). He forbids idols because he is jealous, not in the insecure and fallen way that humans are jealous, but rather in the strong and righteous way of guarding a romantic relationship from what it should not abide. Even heathens call adultery cheating. God knows if we are in a true love relationship with him we should not cheat on him. Your heart can have only one God.
So the test of exclusive worship includes the command to surrender whatever holds the place in your heart that belongs only to God. However, notice that after Abraham surrendered Isaac, the Lord allowed him to keep Isaac. God’s purpose was not to take what Abraham loved, but to ensure his heart was properly ordered. Abraham showed that no one could take God’s place in his heart.
You likewise must not only surrender competing loves, but also wholeheartedly embrace God, for your heart abhors a vacuum. It will have a first love.