Abraham was promised a son when he was 75 years old. He did not receive this son for another 25 years. After having waited so long for this child, Abraham then received a command from God that would test his faith.

"Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then He said, 'Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you'" (Gen. 22:1-2).

This test was an opportunity for Abraham to show that, although he loved his son dearly, he would not allow the love for his son to come before his love for God.

Abraham passed this test of faith. He "rose early in the morning" and proceeded to obey the Lord's command (v. 3). God had commanded him to kill his son, but God had also promised that Abraham's descendants would come through Isaac. The Hebrew writer tells us that Abraham reconciled these two facts with the belief that God would raise his son from the dead (Heb. 11:19). Abraham took Isaac up the mountain with every intention of killing him. As we know, an angel called forth and stopped him from this task (Gen. 22:11-12), but only after Abraham himself had shown that he was willing to put God before his son.

The sad fact is that there are many Christian parents who put their children before God. They allow their children's happiness to redefine or dismiss what God's word says regarding modesty and morality. They allow their children's schedule to determine whether or not they will assemble with the saints to worship God. This preferential treatment does not stop when their children are grown. If their grown children become unfaithful, the parents are often heard blaming the preacher, elders, or brethren. If the elders single out their children as subjects for church discipline, some parents will protest even to the point of removing their own membership and either attending somewhere else or quitting the Lord altogether.

God knew what kind of father Abraham would be even before He gave him a son. "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him" (Gen. 18:19). Godly parents do not place their children above God's law. They "command" their children to "keep the way of the Lord."

While God may never test us in the way that He tested Abraham, our children may put us in a situation where our faith and loyalty to God is put to the test. While we love our children, we must remember the words of our Savior, "...he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. 10:37).