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Abraham named the place “The Lord Will Provide.” This name has now become a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” Genesis 22:14

Abraham was at home one day when the Lord spoke to him. By now, he recognized the Voice because he had spent so much time listening to it. Just as a football player must study the play book in order to be a good player, a true worshiper realizes that worship is not based on our likes, dislikes, personal preferences or priorities. It is based solely on the scriptures. Because true worship is based on the Bible, the only question that needs to be asked of our means of worship is: are they biblical? The music must be biblical. The sermon must be biblical. The prayers must be biblical. If you want to do more this Sunday than merely sing songs and listen to a preacher talk, then STUDY THE PLAY BOOK.

Just like Abraham, we need to make the appropriate preparations in order to worship God. Football players GET THEIR GAME FACE ON. That means they prepare themselves mentally for the challenges of the game they are about to play. Spiritually speaking, we need to ‘get our game faces on’ before we go to church. We prepare for church by getting dressed in our Sunday best, fixing our hair and make-up, and grabbing our Bibles as we head out the door.

We may prepare to go to church. But that isn’t the same as preparing for worship. At a certain point in the journey, Abraham left his servants behind. It is very possible that they would have interfered when they realized that he was going to sacrifice his son and Abraham wasn’t about to allow anything to distract him from worshiping. We need to separate ourselves from anything that would draw our attention away from God. Not just sinful things, but also the natural and normal things of life. Things like work, family, finances, the preacher, the music can all distract us from the worship of God. These are not things that we can simply eliminate from our lives, but we do need to put them out of our minds so that we can be free to focus on God.

The night before a game the players all stay in a hotel together so that they can separate themselves from the cares of their regular lives and begin to focus on the game entirely. The coach establishes a curfew because they need rest to be their best.

We need to KEEP OUR CURFEW. We need to start getting ready for Sunday morning worship on Saturday night. On Saturday evening, we should begin reading and meditating on God’s revelation. We should spend time praying and praising. And, we should get to bed early.

Abraham dedicated his son, Isaac, to God. Isaac was his only son, the son God had promised to him, the son that was to carry on the family line and grow into a great nation. But Abraham had dedicated himself and all he had to God.

True worship is always costly. True worship always requires us to give up our best for God’s best. Football players have a saying -- “leave it all on the field.” It means that during the game they don’t hold anything back. They give 110%. God expects us to do the same thing as Christians. He wants us to be totally dedicated to Him. Only then could Abraham call that place “The Lord Will Provide” -- Yahweh Yireh. Only after he had studied the play book, got his game face on, kept the curfew and left it all on the field could Abraham realize God’s provision.

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

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