Here I Am

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

HERE I AM

Gen 27:1-4

27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." "Here I am," he answered. 2 Isaac said, "I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your weapons — your quiver and bow — and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die."

NIV

This marks the beginning of Jacob's deception at Rebekah's direction, though she acted on the LORD's word that the older would serve the younger. She knew in her heart that Jacob was to be the leader, the one who should receive the father's blessing, for he had already received the Father's blessing. But we are not at that point in this long narrative about Isaac's blessing of his firstborn. However, Isaac does send for his son Esau, whom he loved, and sends him out to kill some wild game and prepare a tasty meal for him.  Our story is about the father's call and the son's response. Of course, we could go to the call of our Heavenly Father and Jesus's, the Son's, response. Our Heavenly Father sent Jesus to gather his people to himself, in the same sense that Isaac sent his son to gather him a tasty meal.  When Isaac called for Esau, he answered, "Here I am." When God called Moses from the burning bush, Moses answered, "Here I am." When God called Samuel, he answered, "Here I am." In one of his psalms, David responded, "Here I am."  The writer of Hebrews repeats those words, but they refer to Jesus telling his Father, "Here I am; I have come to do your will." But the personal story is about us being called the sons of God. When our Father calls, we have only one proper response: "Here I am." As we respond to God's call on our lives, we also need to complete that statement as we follow Jesus by adding, "I have come to do your will." What good is being a son or daughter of God Most High if it is just for the blessings we can get? Would we be like Peter, asking, "What's in it for me?" We wonder whether we are more concerned about our lives than about God's will for our lives. We know he has a plan and purpose for us, and maybe sometimes we do things in what we think is right, but that might not be his plan, but ours. If we are seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, we have only one correct response: "Here I am; I have come to do your will."