Christian Life Today will be featuring a Faith Series starting today. It will be a journey of finding Scriptures from both the Old Testament and the New Testament that has something to do with the subject of Faith. This particular topic envisions that every reader, us included, to take into a journey of discovering and strengthening our Christian faith. It also serves as a journal where anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts and revelations can use the comment portion below to share God’s revelation as you read the Word of God.
Abraham’s Faith Confirmed
Genesis 22:1-14 New King James Version (NKJV)
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad[a] and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide;[b] as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
When we listen to God, nothing can go wrong. Abraham clearly heard from God and got God’s clear message. Because Abraham feared God, he had to obey to the point of sacrificing his Son, Isaac, whom he loved so much. Abraham just trusted God and he would do all what it takes just to please Him! He didn’t even argue with God or beg God to spare his son.
Faith requires us to listen clearly to what God is saying to us. I envy Abraham, because God spoke to him directly like a man to man conversation. But for us in the modern times, God communicates with us through the Holy Spirit, and more often, by reading and meditating the very Word of God, the Bible. Thus, it’s a vital requirement for every Christian to read the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit for revelations, wisdom, and instructions. We need to tune in to God and expect that He will communicate with us even through His still small voice as mentioned in 1 Kings 19:11-13.
If God is saying to us that we have to let go of this and that, give this or that, or go for it or not, that we have to obey. Like the faith of Abraham, we are assured that God’s thoughts and plans are much better than we ought to know as He can see the bigger picture that is ahead of us.
Photo Credit: Daily Walk with God
