Lenten Devotion: A Love That Costs Everything (Genesis 22:1-18)
Day 39 (Good Friday) – 18 Apr 2025
“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” Genesis 22:8
I once carried deep resentment toward my father. He chose to leave our family on the day of my enlistment in National Service. I felt abandoned and hurt, and for years, I couldn’t let go of that anger. It became a burden I carried, weighing me down in ways I didn’t even realize.
Then one day, the Lord confronted me: “I have forgiven you. Why are you holding onto this?” It wasn’t easy, but when I finally surrendered it, the burden lifted. I didn’t see immediate results, but I was freed. That’s the power of surrendering to God.
In this passage, God asks Abraham to do something heart-wrenching: to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Isaac, who was likely old enough to resist (tradition suggests he was in his 30s), willingly obeyed his father. He even carried the wood for his own sacrifice, just as Jesus carried His cross to Golgotha.
This story gives us a glimpse into what God the Father endured. I remember when my daughter broke her wrist. Her cries of pain cut through me. I wanted to take her place, to bear her suffering. But I couldn’t.
Imagine God’s anguish as Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Yet, the Father allowed it not because He was powerless, but because His love was so great. Jesus was not spared because we needed a Saviour. Only His sacrifice could pay for our sins.
What does it cost to love sacrificially? Abraham’s knife and God’s cross both answer: everything. But here’s the difference. Isaac was spared because God provided a ram. Jesus was not. He was the Lamb, the perfect sacrifice. His blood paid for our forgiveness.
Have you ever had to let go of something precious? A dream, a relationship, a comfort you held tightly? Abraham’s sacrifice was painful, but God’s was even greater. Yet He willingly gave His Son for you out of love.
The same God who provided a ram for Abraham provided His Son for us. This Good Friday, let that truth quiet your spirit. He was forsaken so you never will be.
Revd Gary Chng🙏✝️