The next day I went to church where Pastor preached on the importance of worship of God. He started out by mentioning the first occurrence of worship in the Bible. Gen 22:5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
Years ago I searched out the first occurrence of the word "Worship" in the Bible. If you didn't know, the first occurrence of any word in the Bible is significant and usually heavily influences the way that word tends to get translated throughout the Bible. Just as Pastor had said, the first occurrence of worship in the Bible is in Genesis 22. Abraham gets tested by God and sets out to do what God had told him - to sacrifice Isaac. There is a connection between Abraham's obedience and worship of God. God sees the obedience and provides a ram for sacrifice instead of Isaac(verses 12-13). This story is unique in a number of ways. God never wanted a human sacrifice. He wanted to test Abraham. More importantly, God also wanted to foreshadow the sacrifice of Jesus. A loving Father did sacrifice His son, Jesus, for our sins.
The knife came to me in a time when I wondered where God was at. Like many others, I went through a great deal of transition in 2020 through 2021. I gave up a job, lost a car, changed churches and went through some very uncomfortable situations. God still provided for me, but it felt like I needlessly sacrificed some things I shouldn't have had to sacrifice. Sometimes the experiences we go through in life are uncomfortable, especially if you can't see God in the midst of the experience. While God does not ask anyone for a sacrifice like He did with Abraham, God will test us and ask us to sacrifice any number of things, like ambitions, control, or anything that may be in the way of God. For me, the knife was a reminder that testing is part of the journey. Worship/Obedience is the answer to the tests and trials of life.
The Bible says that God still speaks today. He never changes and since He spoke to people before, He still does. He sometimes uses signs to convey a message. The knife was my sign, along with Sunday's sermon. I'm thankful that God still speaks in this way. If you're interested in learning more about this type of thing, consider picking up a copy of The Voice: A Study, releasing November 16. The Voice: Words from God is also available on Amazon. Check out the Look Inside feature for a preview!