Genesis 22:1-19 / Matthew 9:1-8
When what we have is sufficient and even in surplus, it is easy to think that God will provide for our needs.
But when we are down to nothing, can we believe that God will come up with something?
Abraham was blessed by God with almost everything and the most precious was an heir, a son in his old age.
But in the 1st reading, we heard God telling him to take his only son Issac and to offer him as a burnt offering!
What were Abraham's thoughts and emotions, we were not told. But without any delay, he set off the next morning to the place of offering, bringing along Issac and two other servants.
Along the way when Issac asked him where was the lamb for the offering, Abraham replied with this profound faith statement: God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.
Yes, to believe that God will provide is something we need to learn from Abraham.
But from Jesus, we learn something more about God. We learn that God loves us, that God will forgive us, that God will heal us.
God does not just provide for us. God has given us His only Son to be sacrificed on the cross so that we can be saved from our sins.
God has given us everything. Hence we can never say that we are down to nothing. Let us give thanks, let us praise the Lord, and let us offer ourselves whole-heartedly to serve Him.