Scripture
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Genesis 22:12

Observation
Why did God ask Abraham to come to the brink of human sacrifice? There is God’s obvious desire to test his heart to see if he loved the Lord more than the gift of a child he had given. But why such an extreme process to teach him?

I’m wondering just now, could it be that the heavenly Father wanted to deposit into the heart of the father of many nations a lesson for this life but also for the next?

First and foremost, God was developing with Abraham friendship. (James 2:23). This experience was a way their friendship would be deeper, for they would both share the pain of losing a son. But friendship with God is not just for this life, but for eternity. God’s view of friendship is looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong term.

Jesus would later say, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56) More happened that day than we are told in Genesis. Abraham was standing on the top of the mountain that would one day become the site of the Temple and its sacrifices. Off in the distance, perhaps God pointed to another hill and showed Abraham the knoll that would become Calvary. He saw Jesus, his life and his death and his resurrection and was glad.

Jesus would also say later, that Abraham had a job after his death that was even greater than what he did while he was alive. In the waiting time, before Christ came, those who died with faith in God did not go to heaven as there was yet no way because Christ had not yet come. All the dead went to the place of the dead. But in that holding cell for judgement, God carved out a hospitable zone for those who believed in him called “the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:23). To our ears it makes more sense to call it “Abraham’s embrace.” There a beggar named Lazarus would find comfort in the presence of father Abraham, while he waited with all of the rest for the coming of Jesus.

How could Abraham console those waiting for Christ? He could give hope even in the place of the dead because Abraham knew God’s plan to give his son and he could feel in his heart what that plan would mean.

So here is my wild thought: God took Abraham through a gut-wrenching scenario not just for this life but also for the next. God was developing with Abraham a friendship not just for this earthly existence but for the forever of heaven too.

Application
Jesus has called us his friends if we obey him. That friendship is not just for today but for forever. There are things Jesus is allowing to come into our lives that do not make sense in this life, because they are designed for the life to come.

We will be dead far longer than we are alive. I read yesterday from Dallas Willard that we should be thinking what our life will be like 300 years from now and not just 5 years or so. We will reign with Christ and he will have works for us to do. Most of all, he is creating with us an eternal friendship. Today he invests into experiences that will create a forever love between us. Abraham would be the friend God would have in the agony of losing his own Son. Our present suffering has then an eternal meaning. Not all things make sense in this life, because the lessons learned aren’t for this life, they are for the next.

Prayer
Father, today I am humbled that you would call me friend and I’m staggered to think that you are creating experiences today that will deepen our relationship for all eternity. You have given to me some precious friends in life. From time to time, I’ve deliberately arranged for trips, events, adventures and more for no other reason than to deepen our friendship. If I, as an imperfect friend, have done such things, how much more will you with me…and us. I think of scattered moments in my life that I’m still scratching my head over to try and figure out why they happened. But as I read Abraham’s story, I know that your view of friendship is much longer than mine. You want with me such a rich friendship that you purposefully invest into me today experiences that will last with us both forever. I receive your friendship and embrace it closer. I love you Friend! Amen.