Daily Word

Isaac stands as a symbol of the spiritual person—the one born of the Spirit through God’s promise.

God had promised Abraham a son who would embody God’s vision for His people, but there was a delay.

Consequently, Abraham tried to resolve the matter in his own way.

The result?

Ishmael!

God describes him as a “wild donkey” who kicks out in every direction and cannot live in peace with anyone.

He represents the carnal person, whose fundamental nature is rebellion; such a person stands under God’s judgment and lives in a twofold bondage—enslaved both to his/her own impulses and desires, and to the rigorous demands of the Law.

That was all Abraham could achieve through natural means.

For him and Sarah to bring forth Isaac, they both had to reach a point of absolute zero—stripped of every human capacity to realize what God had promised.

In the end, they stood there—old and resigned, devoid of any natural hope.

Yet the Lord repeated His promise time and again, until a divine faith was birthed in Abraham’s heart—and then the impossible happened: Isaac was born!

You and I must also bring forth Isaac—the spiritual person, the spiritual life.

Yet, no matter how hard we strive, we fail time and again, until we finally realize that it is impossible. We can neither produce nor live out the spiritual life, no matter how we try. The only thing we can produce is Ishmael—the wild donkey: self-centred, easily offended, irritable, envious, and driven by his own desires and cravings.

But God does not give up.

Again and again, He sets the vision of the true spiritual life before us, promising that it can be brought forth within us and become our reality.

When we finally give up, the miracle happens.

The life of the Spirit begins to flow within us—based on entirely new foundations—and, to our surprise, it starts to transform our character, our goals, and the way we act.

The spiritual life can only be brought forth within us through death and resurrection.

The old man—Ishmael—must die before the new, spiritual man—Isaac—can be born.

It’s a supernatural work.

Only God can do it—not us!