Abraham Trusts God

When Abraham and Sarah had a baby, it was a miracle. It didn't just happen by itself, God made it happen.  God had to make it happen because Abraham and Sarah's bodies were so old they couldn't make a baby without God.  Abraham was so happy.  He loved his little boy.  His son's name was Isaac, which means laughter.  Isaac got bigger. Soon, he could run fast, he could throw a ball, and he could get his shoes on all by himself.  Abraham loved Isaac very much, but he loved God even more.  God was the one who had made it happen, and God was his best friend.  Abraham always agreed with God.  God was the smartest, and God was powerful, and God was good. When God is our friend we worship him.  At church we sing songs to God to show him our worship. Another way that people used to worship God was to make a sacrifice.  A sacrifice is when you would take an animal, a healthy, strong animal and give its life to God by killing it.  When it was dead, you would burn it so that all of it would go up in the fire into the invisible place where God is.  The animal was yours, but you wanted to give it to God as a present.  We always want to give presents to our best friends to show our friendship. One day God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, and go to a mountain far away.  On the mountain, God said, he wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. God was asking Abraham to give him Isaac's life.  He was asking Abraham for the very best present that he could give.  This was Abraham's only son! Abraham didn't want to keep anything from his best friend God.  He obeyed God.  The next morning, Abraham got up early and chopped some wood for the fire.  He took Isaac and a few helpers and started toward the mountain.  When they got to the mountain, Abraham told his helpers to wait, and he and Isaac started climbing the mountain together.  Isaac didn't know that he was going to be a sacrifice.  He said to his dad, "Father, you have a knife, and I have the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"  Abraham answered him and said, "God will give us a lamb, son."  At the top of the mountain, Abraham built an altar with stones, and arranged the wood for the fire.  Then he took his son, and tied him to the altar.  He raised the knife to sacrifice Isaac, but just then he heard God say "Stop!"  God told him not to do it.  God didn't really want him to kill Isaac.  Now, God knew that Abraham loved God more than he loved his son.  If he was willing to give God his son, then that meant that God was his number one friend.  And guess what?  Abraham was God's number one friend, too.  They were very special friends.  Whatever Abraham had belonged to God.  And whatever God had belonged to Abraham.  Abraham's heart belonged to God, and God's heart belonged to Abraham, too.