The Faith of a Wanderer [Devotion]

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:1-6

As I thought about our current state of being semi-nomadic as I travel for work and Tabitha and the kids live with family it turned my thoughts to Abraham.

We all know Abraham as a great man of faith. And he was. But if we look at his life we might not see what we expect when we say, “great man of faith.” Because when we look at the account of his life we don’t see him preaching like the apostles, no miracles performed through him like Moses, he was given no great task to accomplish like Noah, he didn’t write scripture or psalms like David, and he was not put in positions of great influence like Joseph or Daniel. Yet he is one of the greats. And the reason why is rooted in the passage above, “he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

Now please don’t think that I’m seeking to undermine Abraham, I’m not at all. What I am trying to point out is that his claim to fame (just like all the others I listed if we really understand it) was not what he did but who he believed! Abraham was a great man of faith because, as the author of Hebrews said, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” He was a great man of faith because he had faith! This should be a “no duh” to us but so often we think that being of great faith stems from doing great things for God. But this is not the case. Being of great faith means having faith in Him who is great and the the great deeds will proceed from that.

And when we examine deeds in the context of faith we see that Abraham indeed accomplished great things as a man of faith. First we saw that he left everything he had to obey God and follow Him in Faith (Hebrews 11:8-10). Second we see Him willing to obey God even to the point of sacrificing Isaac! The story makes us uncomfortable and we like to skip to the end where everyone is okay, but the fact is that when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Abraham’s response was one of obedience and great faith. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” (Hebrews 11:17-19).

And it is important for us to understand these acts of obedience as inseparable from faith since James, when seeking to explain to believers the nature of works proceeding from faith, did not turn to the parting of the Red Sea, or the fire from heaven consuming the offering, as examples of faith leading to works. Instead he looks to Abraham, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone… For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:21-24 & 26).

If we wish to be great men and women of faith we need not try and think up grand schemes to bring God glory but simply need to walk in faithful obedience. Abraham wasn’t great because he did great things he was great because he believed God and acted on it. It was the trust that Abraham had when God told him to follow him that grew into the trust to obey God in the most difficult moment of his life. Let us all strive to trust God in such a way that our actions follow suit no matter what actions He calls us to!