Thirty Days of Thanksgiving and Worship Sample

Laying Down our Dreams...

We opened our Thirty Days of Thanksgiving with surrender. Now, let’s talk about a specific type of surrender as worship. We will look at Abraham's decision to glorify God by obeying God's command to offer his son to Him.

And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
Genesis 22:5

When we lay down our dreams, our precious God-given gifts, and even include His future personal promises to us as a sacrifice of praise, we arrive at a place in our hearts of truly trusting the Lord and bringing Him glory. This type of surrender cuts to the core of our being: when we release into our Good Shepherd’s hand, all that we hold dear to our hearts now, and all our hopes for what is to come.

Abraham tells his servants that he is going to worship, yet he fully understands what is about to happen. God is requiring the surrender of Abraham’s beloved son, the much-promised heir upon whom hinges other far-reaching future promises that will affect the nations of the world.

Ponder what this means for your life at this moment. I mean seriously. Do this.

What do you hold dearest in your heart? What prospective dreams or hopes for the future give you a reason to wake up each morning? If we are honest, surrendering them to the Lord takes our breath away when we think of these things.

And yet, Abraham’s true worship is that He knows and believes God's love, mercy, and grace are greater, more excellent, and perfect. Abraham doesn’t know how, but he tells the servants that both he and Isaac will return. He declares in v.8 that Father will provide. He will do something even more breathtaking. This is true worship: fully trusting the Lord and His outcomes.

Let’s worship Him.