For father's day this year, I wanted to do something special for my dad. It had been a whirlwind of a year for all of us, and mom and dad were planning on coming for a visit—we wanted to make my dad's day special. So, along with my siblings, we put together a barbeque pow-wow into the plans, inviting all the dad's in our family to make a celebration that our family hadn't had in a while. I was in charge of the main dish, and knowing my dad as well as most other dad's I knew the smartest dish to put on the menu was red meat. So I went to the store and purchased to nice, big pieces of tri-tip roast—I knew my dad would just love it! I took my loot home, and began the preparations for marinating the meat. Only to find out after removing the meat from the packaging that on the bottom side was a ¼ inch slab of fat that covered the entire thing. My joys were deflated a little as I thought about how these perfect pieces of meat were suddenly tainted. Sure, some fat in the meat is good, it adds flavor, but a ¼" slab of fat isn't very appetizing to your meat—not to mention, once on the barbeque, fat generally catches fire. I was suddenly faced with the decision to either take the time to carefully and slowly cut the fat layer off an inch at a time—or leaving it and hoping for the best. So often in life I take the easy road, my road, ignoring the right thing to do—the thing that God wants me to do, just to save a little time and labor.
In the old testament of the bible, God asked Abraham to take the time to trim something off out of obedience once. Only his request from God was a lot more painful than my cooking dilemma. In Genesis 17, Abraham was asked my God, at the ripe age of 99 years old to circumcise himself (Genesis 17:9-11). Now, I am not a man, nor do I have boys. But I do have a father, and brothers and I can still relate enough to the task God called Abraham to, and wince and cringe at the thought of it. Circumcision is a fairly common thing these days, but it is usually done shortly after birth to prevent any traumatizing after-effects. Should a male need or want to be circumcised after the age of 15 months, they are put into a nice nap for the simple procedure. So to think about Abraham doing this, un-anesthetized, at his age is just plain agonizing. But God asked him to do it, and Abraham listened with hardly a question asked.
As I think back on my life and my relationship with God, I can recall several times where God asked me to cut something from my life. And more often than not, I told God no, because it would've been just too painful and unbearable. I chose to go my own way and walk my own path rather than face the pain that God asked me to feel—not remember who would hold me. But I would also always wind up lost, and confused, calling out "Lord please help save me!" Of course God did, and He always will as Deuteronomy 31:6 says, "for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." In the path of life, I have learned that God has one paved out just for you, but you must not only choose to take it, but also open your ears and listen to your tour guide. When God asks you to cut something from your life, he as a reason for it. And it may hurt, just like Abraham's was so very painful—but God has a purpose and a plan, he will comfort us in our pain and use it to enrich our lives. As we know from reading the rest of the old testament, God blessed Abraham and made him a father of many nations as well as giving him a son, finally, at the age of 100.
Lord God, I ask now that you help me to have the faith that you instilled in Abraham, and help me to cut the things from my life that you ask me to in order to thrive, even if it hurts Lord. For I know that you are my great healer, and in you I find comfort. –Amen
I've since learned that listening to God, and to what I know is right, always ends in a good result. As it did with my dad's tri-tip father's day barbeque. I took the time to cut off the fat, and let it marinade for three days. The meat was perfectly tender and delicious, it took a white to accomplish the task, but it was well worth it in the end.
Reference Verses:
Deuteronomy 31:6
New International Version (NIV)
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Genesis 17:9-11
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
9 God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your [a]descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your [b]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.
