Excellent post! We learn so much from Abraham. A few things that come to mind as we meditate on Abraham's faith: God calls us first and we need but to answer His call; we can trust in Him, for He keeps His promises; He desires only good for us, so we benefit as we do His will.
Thanks for your wise comments!
"A few things that come to mind as we meditate on Abraham's faith: God calls us first and we need but to answer His call; we can trust in Him, for He keeps His promises; He desires only good for us, so we benefit as we do His will."
Those are all very important observations, but there's an additional, very critical thing we learn from Father Abraham that many of us don't know quite what to do with: God will test us. As a matter of fact, I truly believe every single trial and tribulation on this earth, whether it was do to our own ignorance and weaknesses or from those of someone else, is ultimiately a testing of our faith. As the apostle James states so beautifully:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4 NIV)
The part of Father Abraham's life that I find the most amazing is in Genesis 22 where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son! What a request!
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
(Genesis 22:1-2 NIV)
Wow! If God tested His best friend on planet Earth, how much more will he seek to test us! And isn't it quite possible that God will also ask us to sacrifice that which is most dear to us???
This isn't the kind of lesson that pastor's like to preach in a Sunday morning sermon, but the essential truth of God's testing is a much a part of our lives as it was Abraham's.