Bold Obedience

Hello friends and welcome back to BOLD! In the last part, we went through some definitions of bold, where I added some references, and gave us this corresponding word from my concordance:

Obey: to do as asked; to yield to someone's command or wishes.

Why did I chose this for is our corresponding word? Well, like I mentioned last week, the Bible tells us to be bold; and therefore, to obey the Lord's word, we must be bold. Easier said then done right?

Now let's look at one of those definitions from last week. I got this from Wikipedia:

'To be bold implies a willingness to get things done despite risks. Boldness may be a property that only certain individuals are able to display.'

Let's begin with that first sentence; we see people in the Bible doing this very thing, taking risks to accomplish something, which is hard enough on it's own. But what about taking a risk for the sake of obeying God? We see this in Genesis with Abraham:

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love - Isaac - and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you."

Genesis 22:1-2

Whoa! That will not only take boldness on Abraham part, but trust as well! This seems un-obey-able (yes I just made up that word). There's no way Abraham went through with it right?!

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then, he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Genesis 22:3-10

He was really going to obey the Lord; even if it meant doing the hardest thing he had ever done. Even if it meant loosing His son, his hard-prayed for son whom he loved.

But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

"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 22:11-12

It was just a test from the Lord. God wanted to know if Abraham was willing to obey, despite the risks and wouldn't have actually let Him go through with it, for there was going to be a son who would be an offering, but it wasn't Abraham's son, it was God's Son, it was Jesus.

Obeying God is hard, not everyone can do it, just like the second sentence implies from our Wikipedia search results. It takes trust in the Lord, it takes being washed in the blood of Jesus, it takes being bold.

Next week, we will dive back into those definitions and see what else we can learn from them, but until then, find some joy in today.