Would you?

I find myself challenged with so many questions sitting in my chair in Honors Lit. They have helped me immensely to strengthen my faith; they have given me a view of history and of the future. However, there are some questions that touch my life in the present. Questions not about what I would do in the past, or what I think should happen in the future, but what I will do now. What I believe now. One of the most troubling questions that has made its way to my notes, but ends with a question mark and not an answer is the question asked Thursday…
“If GOD told you to kill someone, would you do it?”
I’m tempted to write it off altogether with the response of “GOD wouldn’t tell me to do that, so it doesn’t matter….” But it does. My answer to this question determines my view of war, of the value of life….and of the nature of GOD. I have to know the answer.
So I began to argue with myself – with some of the arguments that were presented in class.
· GOD used to tell people to kill other people. Look at Abraham (I know, he didn’t actually kill Isaac, but he was told to). Look at the Israelites making war against the nations of Canaan. Look at Jericho.
· GOD used war for His people and for His glory throughout the Old Testament. He allowed His Israel to be taken captive again and again to draw them back to Himself. He allowed them to kill and be killed in order to spread His Name throughout the world.
· BUT – Everything changed when JESUS came. He fulfilled the Law; He tore the veil between man and GOD; He began to speak of loving your neighbor and turning the other cheek. He said “Blessed are the peacemakers…” So has GOD changed? Or has His requirement of us changed?
· Since the Resurrection of JESUS, we have no record of GOD telling anyone to kill another person. We have no record of Him telling His people to make war. So something had to change…
But that doesn’t answer my question! The question is IF GOD told me to kill someone…not WILL He tell me to.
My answer is YES. I would. Let me defend it:
· GOD never intended for Abraham to kill Isaac. He was testing him. The issue was not about Isaac’s life but about Abraham’s trust in GOD. GOD may tell me to do something that I don’t understand - something that is the one thing that I don’t ever want to even consider doing – but His intentions may not even have to do with the commandment, but with the state of my heart.
And I stop there. I could argue on logically, but I discovered an issue that overrides any argument I could make. The state of my heart.
· If GOD did tell me to do something I see as completely irrational, but He sees as a test to draw me closer to Him….would I even hear Him? Abraham walked with GOD. He had entered a covenant with GOD. He heard GOD clearly when GOD told Him what He required of him – his only son. Abraham was willing to do it, so great was his love for GOD. Obedience to GOD was more important to Abraham than logical answers, than explanations, than the life of Isaac. Abraham was so close to the heart of GOD that he knew GOD was good. He put his faith in the One he loved even more than Isaac. And through him, GOD brought forth the nations of the earth…and through him, GOD sent the Savior of the world.

Now my question is not “If GOD told me to kill someone, would I do it,” but “Am I close enough to GOD for Him to tell me to do something only explained by faith?” Would I discern His voice…would I trust His heart?

~I commented on Jeremy Crews' blog~