Grace For Your Day February 6

Abraham is considered to be the father of the Jewish faith because he trusted in God in spite of tremendous difficulties. Just a brief overview of his life demonstrates that he had a strong confidence in the Lord that superseded almost anyone else in history. For example,

• He left his father’s house to follow God when he was 75 years old.
• He was circumcised when he was 99.
• He trusted in God’s promise of a son even though he had to wait until he was 100 to have one through his wife, Sarah.
• When the child came, he was willing to sacrifice him on an altar until the Lord stopped him.
• He pursued a life of godliness while living in a godless place (i.e., he lived in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah).
• He continued dwelling in tents without ever settling down in the Land of Canaan even though the Lord had promised it to his offspring.

The point is that Abraham was faithful to the Lord. Even though he never saw the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to him in his lifetime, he believed God would keep His Word, and the Lord did as there are more than 14 million Jews living in the world today. His descendants are as numerous as “the stars of the heavens and the sand on the seashore” (Genesis 22:17) because the Lord did what He said He would do for His servant.

This is an important reminder because we are currently studying the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 and the next man that is mentioned in the chapter is Abraham. Verse 8 says:

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

The author states that, when Abraham left his father’s house, he did not know where he was going. The Lord did not reveal the location that He was sending him to. However, Abraham obeyed the voice of God anyway because he believed that the Lord is trustworthy.

This is similar to what we experience today because we do not always know where we are going, either. We are not sure if the Lord will bring us through times of joy or times of sorrow. We do not know if we will give us a season of sickness or health, poverty or wealth, comfort or pain. However, we are called to trust the Lord for the same reason Abraham did because the Lord is worthy, which is what we are going to talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

This Sunday, we are going to talk about the faith of Abraham because that is the theme of the next passage in our study of the Hall of Faith. After talking about Abel in verse 4, Enoch in verse 5 and Noah in verse 7, the author now proceeds to take us to the next stage in Israel’s history to show us where the people of Israel began. They did not begin with the Law; they began with faith. They did not start with works; they started when a humble man named Abraham put his trust in God and the Lord saved him as a result.

It is the same way for us because our salvation does not begin when we earn it. It starts when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. We just need to cling to Him as our Savior and, as we do so, He will take us through the stormy seas of this world and bring us safely through to the other side. Please join us as we talk about that on Sunday together. – Jeremy Cagle