God kept His promise to Abram and Sarah and gave them a son, whom they
called Isaac. At this stage of Abram’s life, God had changed his name to
Abraham, which means “father of a multitude”. Abba Father God would increase
the nation and generations through Isaac.
“Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “Yes,” he
replied. “Here I am.” (Gen. 22:1) We’ll deal with what God commanded
Abraham to do, in the next devotion, but today we need to discuss Abraham’s
“Here I am.” When Abba Father wants to speak to you, are you willing to
say – “Here I am – ready to listen and do Your will my Father God.” It
takes an obedient, co-operative and prepared heart to say “Here I am.”
Jacob, also known as Israel, who was the son of Isaac and grandson of
Abraham, replied in the same way when Jacob was fleeing from his brother
Esau. “And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Here I am,” he replied. “I am God, the God of your father,” God said. “Do not
be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.”
(Gen. 46:2+3)
Moses also said “Here I am” in Exodus 3:4 when God called him to deliver the
Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Young Samuel, who was growing up in a
temple (church) learning to serve Almighty God, replied “Here I am” three
times in 1 Samuel 3, when God called him to speak to him. Samuel later
became one of the greatest prophets of God.
In Isaiah 6 we read how the prophet Isaiah saw the wonderful glory of God in
the temple, and he was greatly moved. Isaiah wrote – “Then I heard the voice
of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said,
‘Here I am. Send me.” (Verse 6) THAT is how we too should respond when our
blessed Saviour tells us to do something for Him.
Like Isaiah, we first need to recognise God’s grace and repent from our sins and
whatever burdens us, and we need to be saved by His loving mercy. Then we
need to have the willingness to reach out to others in love and compassion. All
of those whom we read about above, were used of and by God because of their
responsive hearts to please and serve a precious Lord who not only calls us, but
who helps us to develop, encourage and nurture that calling.
Blessed Most holy and precious Father God, please give me the courage and the
willingness to say “Here I am, ready to obey You and to do Your will” when You
call me to do what You know is best for me. Thank you that You equip those You
call and that we can trust Your divine plan and purposes for our lives. In Jesus
Name we pray, Amen.
Myrtle Turunen