The Fire Without the Lamb

“Isaac said, Behold tJic fire and the wood, hut where is the lamb fur a burnt offering f” — Genesis xxii. 7.

THE experience of Isaac in the hour of sacrifice is not an unusual one. There are many who feel the inward fire, but who have no object to lay upon it; they cry ‘’ Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb! “There are many who would be clergymen if they had the means. There are many who would be missionaries if they had the talent. There are many who would be sicknurses if they had the strength. To such the story of Isaac should bring deep comfort. It tells of a man who had the fire in his heart, but nothing in his hand. And the fire in the heart was accepted as a substitute for something in the hand. Isaac could have said, in the language of the hymn, “Nothing in my hands I bring.” He had no mission-field to till, no hospital to tend, no district to visit. He had nothing to give but himself — his will, his inward fire; there was no lamb. Yet God accepted him zvithout the lamb — without the mission-field, without the tended district, without the hospital service. God accepted the inward combustion, the fire in the soul, the seal in the spirit, the intention of the heart. The lamb was only slain in imagination; but the imagination was counted a reality; the offering was deemed complete.

So shall it be with thee, my brother! When thy spirit is willing and thy flesh is weak, remember Isaac! Remember that the lamb God sees is the lamb in the heart! I hear thee speak of the difference between the imaginary and the real. But to thy Father the most real thing about thee is thine imagining. Not what thou art able to do, but what thou art able to zvill, is the measure of thee. The world will judge thee by thy deeds; the Father will judge thee by thine aspirings. Thou canst not build a tower that will reach to heaven; but thou canst build a thought that will reach to heaven. And thy thought is the building which the Father sees.

The rainbow in the flood of thy sins is not thy power to fly; it is thy power to feel; this is the true arch between earth and heaven. It makes the comfort of thy Father; let it be thy comfort, too! Thy flesh is weak, but thy spirit is ready; keep thine eye upon thy spirit! When thou art impressed with how little thou hast done for Christ, remember what thou hast planned to do! Remember what fields thou hast traversed for Him in fancy! Remember the long roads on which thy love desired to go! Remember the stormy seas on which thy devotion longed to sail! Remember the hills of difficulty on which thy feet aspired to stand! Remember the battles thou wert willing to fight, the burdens thou wert eager to bear, the succour thou wert sighing to send! These are thine unspoken sacrifices; these are thy moments on Moriah’s Mount. The fuel in the heart seems to have been fired in vain; but in the surrender of thine inmost will God has provided a lamb for the burnt offering.