(As seen from the eyes of Pastor Ike Riddle stepping down
as Senior Pastor of Olive Branch Church on April 9, 2006
How does it feel this morning
to walk up Moriah’s Mountain
To lay the “Isaac” of a ministry down?
To know that a church
Was once just a promise
Carried around in the
Nurtured womb of faith
To see it birthed
To see it run
And laugh
And grow strong and tall.
As we walk up the long road
I think about the one who gave the gift
Who knew how this “child”
Would make me smile
I pause on the journey
To hold him
And to lift my eyes to the One
who has commissioned the journey to the altar
I know His heart
He loves my son too
So whether at the last minute
He stays my hand
Or lets the knife find its deathly mark
I must lay him down
For how can I claim He is God,
If He is not over even this?
I feel the terror of the moment
The gift is tied
On the slab of cold reality
I meditate on the one I have come to know
Who can give life and take it back
With a breath
There is no choice to make other than the one He demands
No other sacrifice will meet His standard
And whether this picture is for others years ahead
Or for just me today
See!—I will not take him back
And run to safety proclaiming I have worshipped
For He is not God if He is not able
To ask for anything back
That He has given me.
I will return home
With Yahweh’s grace
Even if I am alone
That is enough for me.
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