one of my favorite scriptures of faith is when Abraham told his servants in chpt 22:3-8 as he prepared to take Isaac to be sacrificed "...We will worship and then we will come back to you." then he told Isaac that God will provide a lamb for sacrifice. he trusted God from the beginning; he seemed so calm while preparing the altar, then bounding his son & raising the knife to slay him. i have to admit i don't think i would have this strong of faith at a time like that.
I like that God mentioned twice that Abraham was going to be blessed, because he didn't withhold his son, his only son from the Lord. I think this is an intentional reference to what God would do for us. I love that fact that God sees the whole of the past and what lies in the future and that there is nothing that can stop His will from being executed.
Up until now, I've been thinking about why God chose to bring about his promise through Abraham. He has shown some bright glimmers of faith, but I also see a man whose actions seem to indicate the opposite. This is a real message of encouragement to me. God blessed Abraham abundantly and looked on him with favor, in spite of his flaws. He is a man whose faith is a work in progress. Likewise, I have been blessed with his grace and favor in spite of my sin and I am a believer whose faith is a work in progress.
I, too, am so encouraged by Abraham. He is part of the answer to my question from day 3 about "every inclination of the human heart is evil". Abraham's actions (by faith) in today's reading resulted in him being remembered in 3 New Testament books: Romans, Galatians, and James. Each of those books state that His belief was credited to him as righteousness.
I, too, was impressed that Abraham told his servants, "WE will come back to you" instead of "I will come back to you." He had to just be (desperately?) holding onto God's promise that he would become the father of countless descendants through Isaac. Of course, in Hebrews it tells us that Abraham had reasoned that God could raise Isaac from the dead, if it came to that. What faith!
one of my favorite scriptures of faith is when Abraham told his servants in chpt 22:3-8 as he prepared to take Isaac to be sacrificed "...We will worship and then we will come back to you." then he told Isaac that God will provide a lamb for sacrifice.
ReplyDeletehe trusted God from the beginning; he seemed so calm while preparing the altar, then bounding his son & raising the knife to slay him.
i have to admit i don't think i would have this strong of faith at a time like that.
I like that God mentioned twice that Abraham was going to be blessed, because he didn't withhold his son, his only son from the Lord. I think this is an intentional reference to what God would do for us. I love that fact that God sees the whole of the past and what lies in the future and that there is nothing that can stop His will from being executed.
ReplyDeleteUp until now, I've been thinking about why God chose to bring about his promise through Abraham. He has shown some bright glimmers of faith, but I also see a man whose actions seem to indicate the opposite. This is a real message of encouragement to me. God blessed Abraham abundantly and looked on him with favor, in spite of his flaws. He is a man whose faith is a work in progress. Likewise, I have been blessed with his grace and favor in spite of my sin and I am a believer whose faith is a work in progress.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am so encouraged by Abraham. He is part of the answer to my question from day 3 about "every inclination of the human heart is evil". Abraham's actions (by faith) in today's reading resulted in him being remembered in 3 New Testament books: Romans, Galatians, and James. Each of those books state that His belief was credited to him as righteousness.
ReplyDeleteI, too, was impressed that Abraham told his servants, "WE will come back to you" instead of "I will come back to you." He had to just be (desperately?) holding onto God's promise that he would become the father of countless descendants through Isaac. Of course, in Hebrews it tells us that Abraham had reasoned that God could raise Isaac from the dead, if it came to that. What faith!
ReplyDelete