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「你既行了這事，不留下你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子....我必叫你的子孫多起來，如同天上的星，海邊的沙....因為你聽從了我的話。」（聖經創世記二十二章 16/18 節）
從這幾節聖經裡，我們知道：凡照著神的要求，將我們心中最寶貴的那件東西獻給神的，神仍要將那件東西還給我們，並且加上千倍。
亞伯拉罕因著神的命令，甘心捨棄他的獨生子，那時，他對於孩子的生命和成人的希望，都同時消失了；他高貴的種族也將從此絕代了。但是結果怎樣呢？不但孩子歸還了他，他的子孫竟多得如星沙一般；並且到了指定的日期，我們的主耶穌基督也 出世在這個家族裡。
這正是上帝對待祂每一個孩子的方法。當我們為祂捨棄富貴選擇貧窮的時候，祂就給我們富貴。當我們為祂捨棄一個豐裕的職位時，祂就給我們一個夢想不到更豐裕的職位。我們為祂捨棄一切甜蜜的希望，看自己是死了的時候，祂就給我們更豐盛的生命、更希罕的歡樂。我們越多為祂犧牲，就越多得到基督；直到像亞伯拉罕一般犧牲到最寶貴的那一件的時候，我們就要看見在基督裡的那完美的生命。──崔倫保（C.G. Trumbull）
我們有時候好像忘記了神揀選我們，是要在苦難的鑪中揀選的（聖經以賽亞書四十八章 10 節）。我們也忘記了復活的生命，和升天的榮耀，是從客西馬尼、十字架和墳墓裡來的。
親愛的讀者啊，不要想亞伯拉罕的經歷是一件絕無僅有的奇事。我告訴你，這正是神對待一切願出代價來順服祂的人們的 一個樣品、一個模型。犧牲最大的一剎那，就是祝福最大的一剎那。神對於一個膽敢為著祂向煙霧中前進的人，是沒有 一件東西不肯給的。── 梅爾（F. B. Meyer）
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"Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son……I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven; …… because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Gen. 22:16-18.)
And from that day to this, men have been learning that when, at God's voice, they surrender up to Him the one thing above all else that was dearest to their very hearts, that same thing is returned to them by Him a thousand times over. Abraham gives up his one and only son, at God's call, and with this disappear all his hopes for the boy's life and manhood, and for a noble family bearing his name. But the boy is restored, the family becomes as the stars and sands in number, and out of it, in the fullness of time, appears Jesus Christ.
That is just the way God meets every real sacrifice of every child of His. We surrender all and accept poverty; and He sends wealth. We renounce a rich field of service; He sends us a richer one than we had dared to dream of. We give up all our cherished hopes, and die unto self; He sends us the life more abundant, and tingling joy. And the crown of it all is our Jesus Christ. For we can never know the fullness of the life that is in Christ until we have made Abraham's supreme sacrifice. The earthly founder of the family of Christ must commence by losing himself and his only son, just as the Heavenly Founder of that family did. We cannot be members of that family with the full privileges and joys of membership upon any other basis. --C. G. Trumbull
We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave.
Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham's was a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God's dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God's river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him. --- F. B. Meyer.
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