Here Am I
[Abraham] said, "Here am I."
GENESIS 22:11
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Here Am I
[Abraham's] obedience gave God extraordinary pleasure. For of all the sacrifices the one most acceptable to God is this: to kill sin, to live in righteousness, holiness, obedience, and mortification of the flesh. This is indeed painful and difficult for us; but one must learn to accustom oneself, as Paul says (Romans 12:2), to "what is the good will of God." We merely talk about these things, but Abraham and Isaac actually did them. And this is the perfect will for God. It has not even begun in us. To God it is well-pleasing and good; to us it is unpleasant and disagreeable. Nothing is more agonizing than the mortification of the flesh and sin. For this reason it seems horrible and impossible, and we shun and hate it. Nevertheless, one must accustom oneself to it and make a beginning, in accordance with the example of Abraham, who does not shun it but waits for it with the utmost readiness. The purpose of his being here is that his son may be killed and that life may follow death. This is a work done in faith—a work in which the angels are wont to rejoice, even in us, when we are engaged in a Christian office and work.
GENESIS 22:11
+
Here Am I
[Abraham's] obedience gave God extraordinary pleasure. For of all the sacrifices the one most acceptable to God is this: to kill sin, to live in righteousness, holiness, obedience, and mortification of the flesh. This is indeed painful and difficult for us; but one must learn to accustom oneself, as Paul says (Romans 12:2), to "what is the good will of God." We merely talk about these things, but Abraham and Isaac actually did them. And this is the perfect will for God. It has not even begun in us. To God it is well-pleasing and good; to us it is unpleasant and disagreeable. Nothing is more agonizing than the mortification of the flesh and sin. For this reason it seems horrible and impossible, and we shun and hate it. Nevertheless, one must accustom oneself to it and make a beginning, in accordance with the example of Abraham, who does not shun it but waits for it with the utmost readiness. The purpose of his being here is that his son may be killed and that life may follow death. This is a work done in faith—a work in which the angels are wont to rejoice, even in us, when we are engaged in a Christian office and work.
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