The first time we read about Isaac where the evidence suggests that he probably was an older teenager or young adult is in Genesis 22. That is the chapter where God told Abraham to sacrifice his “only son.” Before we go on, note that Abraham would have had to cut a lot of wood for a sacrifice as large as Isaac, which most likely was loaded onto the one and only donkey they took with them. Now if you continue to read between the lines, it’s obvious that Isaac was not some small child. First, he endured a three-day walk over rugged terrain. Second, though the mountain to which Abraham was going was “afar off” (Genesis 22:4 NKJV), he obeyed his father’s command to carry the heavy wood. Third, he knew enough about proper sacrifices to recognize that something was amiss, which he called to his father’s attention. Now, here’s where the record gets really interesting. It appears that the young man willingly allowed his father to bind him so that he could be the sacrifice. Perhaps Abraham, probably with tears in his eyes, explained to him that he was only doing what God said, submitting to His command to sacrifice his only son. Anyway, Isaac was old enough to run away like most young men his age would have, but instead, he had the humility to obey his father and God, even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8). Where would Isaac have learned such amazing humility? The religious

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you were stuck in prison? Do you know that as a Christian, you are actually commanded in God’s Word to contemplate that very thing? Further, do you know why you are commanded to do that? Jesus told why, which is so that you can go to heaven when you die. Obeying the second greatest command, to love your neighbor as yourself, is required to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25-28). Yes, it’s that important, but how do we do it? There’s a written standard on how we are to love others. We can’t just love them any way we want to. The standard is us. We have to first look at how we would like to be loved and apply that standard to the way we behave toward and treat others (Matthew 7:12). Putting this all together, here’s the key passage for this lesson. “Let brotherly love continue. …Remember the prisoners as if chained with them…” (Hebrews 13:1, 3 NKJV). Remembering prisoners is a command of God, a love command contained within the second greatest command, but very often ignored by many if not most Christians. Have you ever in your life even heard a sermon on Hebrews 13:3 or read an article on that verse? And just like the second greatest command, it has a standard. We have to picture ourselves stuck in prison and contemplate how we would want others to remember us there. There is no option here if you want