DAY 17
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary,
there they crucified him, and the malefactors,
one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
he said,
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:
and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:43,46
And he said,
Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah;
and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of....
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering,
and laid it upon Isaac his son;
and he took the fire in his hand,
and a knife; and they went both of them together.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said,
My father:
and he said,
Here am I, my son.
And he said,
Behold the fire and the wood:
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
And Abraham said,
My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:
so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order,
and bound Isaac his son,
and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand,
and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven,
and said,
Abraham, Abraham:
and he said,
Here am I.
And he said,
Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked,
and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram,
and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Genesis 22:2,6-13
DAILY REMINDER
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, 
and have not LOVE, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I
have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not LOVE,
I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not LOVE, it profiteth me nothing. 
"The sacrifice required of Abraham was not
alone for his own good,
nor solely for the benefit of succeeding generations;
LOVE suffereth long, and
is kind;
LOVE envieth not;
LOVE vaunteth not itself, is not
puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own,
is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
And now abideth faith, hope, LOVE, these three;
but the greatest of these is LOVE.
And from Jesus Christ, .... Unto him that loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
1 Corinthians 13:1-5,13/Revelation 1:5
nor solely for the benefit of succeeding generations;
but it was also for
--the instruction of the sinless
intelligences of heaven
--and of other worlds.
The
field of the controversy between Christ and Satan--the field on which
the plan of redemption is wrought out--is the lesson book of the
universe.
Abraham's great act of faith stands like a pillar of light, illuminating the pathway of God's servants in all succeeding ages."
E.G.W.
Closing Thought for the Day
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me.
The people answered him,
We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever:
and how sayest thou,
The Son of man must be lifted up?
who is this Son of man?
Then Jesus said unto them,
Yet a little while is the light with you.
Walk while ye have the light,
lest darkness come upon you:
for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
John 1:1-5 /12:32,34,35