Abraham is considered one of the great figures of history.  He is mentioned in all the major religions, but ultimately this would not have happened if he did not obey Gods call.  You see we all have things in our life that we plainly put before God, whether it is a job, children, or even a sinful desire.  The things we try to control because they control us are our “Isaac’s”.  We have to walk up that mountain and be willing to sacrifice those things we place before God.  As he calls us to fear him, we must understand he doesn’t mean be afraid of him, but rather we must be in awe of him.  The grace and mercy that he places into our lives is by his choice.  Therefore, as we live our life we must relinquish the illusion of control we think we have, especially with those things that rule us.  When we idolize something it is very easy to get lost.  Sadly, we can idolize ourselves, which is narcissism.  We can put several things before God in our lives and still justify we love God.  We all have alters of worship that we have created throughout our lives, the problem with most of our alters is that Jesus is a part of it, and not the FOUNDATION of it.  You see if we would just truly trust God as our foundation, then all those things we idolize would find their place.  If it were relationships, his love would bless them, if it was something sinful or narcissistic, we would desire it less because we would be seeking Jesus more.  We all have our “Isaac’s”, I ask you to sit back and pray and ask God what yours is as I am doing the same.  We could have one thing or many things and we need the counsel of the Holy Spirit to guide us in this journey.  I cannot imagine how Abraham must have felt holding the knife and ready to sacrifice his son.  I know he did it because it did follow Jewish customs of what the firstborn son meant, but still he was human and must have been filled with so many feelings.  The fact that his fear of God had him to know that God is Holy and righteousness and gives grace was all he could hold on to.  Through out the scripture he totally allows God to show up and be Himself, he at no time takes control, because he realizes he has none and must surrender.  I can only imagine the relief, joy and satisfaction he must of felt as God yelled out to him to not lay a hand on his only son.  We have the ability my friends to sacrifice our “Isaac’s” and please understand you are simply taking that thing, person or relationship and putting them in the right spot of your alter of worship.  I am understanding more of what my “Isaac’s” are and have asked God to destroy my alter and with Jesus as the new righteous foundation, I have asked him to walk with me to create my new alter of worship stone by stone.  Jesus is and will always be the only truth we need, regardless of what life throws at us, we must endure and when we mess up, don’t keep messing up, like I do so  many times, rather stand up, dust off, and grab his hand and get back on the right path… AMEN!