Updated Monday, March 31, 2008

Bible Studies for Life lesson for April 13: Exploring Devotion

By Catherine Painter

Focal Passages: Genesis 22:1-14, 17-18

While reading on the beach at dusk, I noticed a crowd gathered around an emergency vehicle. Curious, I headed toward the scene. A young man was being lifted onto a stretcher when a woman fled the crowd, ran toward me, and sank into my arms, exhausted. Perfect strangers, we embraced.

"Are you a Christian?" I asked. She nodded. I said, "I sensed God's Spirit in you relating to His Spirit within me." Then she shared her story.

"Years ago I passed a test on CPR. Since then, I haven't needed to use my knowledge. Last night in a dream, I went through the process of reviving a person from drowning. Just now, with the lifeguard off duty, I was the only person in the crowd knowing how to administer CPR. God reviewed the test for me last night to use me in this situation today."

When emergencies arise and dangers threaten, the rescue is often as remarkable as the trial is severe.

God tested Abraham's devotion to Him by requiring him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham's test ended when the angel shouted, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me" (Gen. 22:12). Thus, we learn that whatever we lay on God's altar is never lost, and that life is a series of tests of our obedience and devotion to Him.

The good news is that we who claim Christ as our personal Savior have already passed our final exam. Testing will continue, however, until we die, or why would Jesus have said, "I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves"? (Matt. 10:16).

How can we recognize being tested? When unrest or conflict with people or circumstances confront us - loneliness, discouragement, misunderstanding, confrontation, severe illness, unbelievable situations, or unbearable temptation. The test ends when peace returns.

Thankfully, all God's tests are open-book. The better we know The Book, the easier it is to pass our tests, and the fewer times God requires us to take them over. Mark Twain set the bar high for testing our devotion to God when he wrote, "Let us so live, that when we die, even the funeral director will be sorry."