Worth Repeating - May 8, 2017

Genesis 15: 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (NIV)

Faith is not believing in spite of evidence; faith is obeying in spite of consequence.*

Abraham didn’t just believe in God, he believed what God said. How do we know he believed? By his acts of obedience. What if Abraham had said, “I believe you God,” and then did nothing to show it? It would probably mean he was lying. It certainly wouldn’t prove his faith. Saying you believe doesn’t count as righteousness – you have to mean it. And if you mean it, you will show it.

The most dramatic demonstration of Abraham’s faith is found in Genesis 22 when God told him to sacrifice the son he had been promised. Abraham could have gone through the motions – even going so far as to actually slay his son – without a shred of faith in God. If that had been the case, I don’t believe he would have been commended by God down through the ages, for his obedience would have been hollow. God knew what Abraham was thinking and feeling and believing as he raised his arm, knife in hand, doing what he had been told to do.

While we will probably never be called upon to perform so dramatic and drastic a gesture, we often have to step out in faith and obedience. We must take the knife in our hands, raise it in the air and begin the downward motion, not knowing whether or not there is a ram waiting in the bushes.

God accepted Abraham not because he led a perfect life, but because of his responsiveness to God’s promises. . . . God looked for faith, not moral perfection.*