Will You Believe?

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

And then verse six says simply, that standing there looking at the stars, “Abram believed God.” He decided to trust God to keep His promises. He was certain, confident that God would give him a son. Romans 4:18 puts it this way. It says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed...” It would have been easier for Abram to believe what seemed certain, that he and his barren wife would never have a child. But Abram made the decision to hope against hope. He chose to believe that God is faithful. He chose to believe that He would keep His word.

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And the second half of verse 6 tells us that God credited this to Abram as righteousness. Abram wasn’t righteous mind you. If you read his story in detail, Genesis presents him as a flawed man. When he went down to Egypt he was so afraid of Pharaoh that he hid the fact that Sarai was his wife. He knew Sarai was beautiful and he was afraid they would kill him to marry her, so he let his wife be taken into Pharaoh’s bed to save his own skin. This was a despicable sin against God and Sarai. Then, years later, Abram did the same thing again with the King of Gerar, a man named Abimelech, only God intervened this time before Sarai was taken into the king’s bed. So, Abram wasn’t righteous. He wasn’t perfect. But he believed God. He had faith and God credited that faith to him as righteousness. In other words, because of his faith, God regarded him as righteous even though he wasn’t.

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This verse, Genesis 15:6, is picked up in Romans 4:23-24 and applied to us. It says, “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

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You see, just like Abram, you aren’t righteous and you can’t be righteous on your own. But has chosen to credit righteousness to the accounts of those who believe. For Abram it was belief in the promise. For us it is belief in Jesus and the promises surrounding Him. Do you believe?

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Do you believe that Jesus is more than just a man, that He is the eternal Son of God? Do you believe that He lived a sinless life so He could become the perfect, atoning sacrifice for your sins? Do you belief that Jesus died on the cross to pay the punishment for your sins? Do you believe He was raised from the dead on the third day? Do you believe He ascended to Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty? Do you believe that He can save even you? Do you believe that He can set you free from sin and make you a new creation. Do you believe that one day He will raise all who believe back from the dead to live eternally with Him on a new heavens and a new earth where He will wipe away every tear and where there will be no more crying, death or pain? Do you believe that? These are all promises that God has made to those who believe. But you have to believe to receive this reward. You have to believe to be considered righteous.

Will you believe in Jesus? Will you trust God to keep Him promises?

So Abram Went

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Genesis 12:4–5

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The Bible often phrases things so simply and yet so powerfully. God has asked Abram to leave his country and any land he might have owned behind. God asked him to leave his people and his extended family behind. Basically, God asks Abram to leave everything and follow Him. And Scripture simply says “So Abram went.” Amazingly, Abram seems to have made this giant step of faith and sacrifice without pause. Presumably, Abram was willing to make these sacrifices to obey God’s call because he reasoned that the blessings of obedience would outweigh the sacrifices that God asked of him.

Following God’s call on your life will always  require sacrifice. What are you willing to leave behind to follow God? What is He asking you to sacrifice? Money? Friendships? Time? Your plans for your life? No matter how much sacrifice it requires to follow God’s call, I assure you that you will be happier living inside God’s will than you will be living outside of it. So, I urge you to trust God and willingly make any sacrifices He asks of you.

One other thing I should point out is that when Abram obeyed God’s call, he didn’t even really know where he was going. God didn’t tell him the whole plan. He made some specific promises to Abram and He told him that He would show him the land, but that was about it. Hebrews 11:8 puts it well when it says that Abram “obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

Often that is exactly what following God’s call in your life feels like. You have no idea where you’re going. You don’t fully know where He is leading you. God seems to only tell us what we need to know to be able to obey. Perhaps that is because He wants us to obey based on faith instead of knowledge. It could also be because He knows we couldn’t handle knowing the whole plan. Either way, you don’t have to know the whole plan to obey. Just step out in faith and obey what He has revealed to you and trust that He will show you the rest along the way. That’s what Abram did.

A Heart Sacrifice

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, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Genesis 22:1-2

The thought of offering a child up to God as a sacrifice is appalling. But as we read the rest of this story, we find that God never wanted a human sacrifice, and He certainly didn’t want Isaac to die. He had plans for him. No. What God wanted was a heart sacrifice.

You see Abraham had lived most of his life childless. His wife, Sarah, was barren. And in that culture having children, having an heir, was a big thing. Abraham was 75 years old when God first spoke to him and promised to give him offspring. But then…nothing happened. For 24 years Abraham trusted even though he knew that his wife was barren and well past the age of childbearing. For 24 years Abraham waited, but no son. And then, finally, when he was 99 years old the Lord told him it was time for Sarah to get pregnant and at 100 years old, his son Isaac was born.

Most fathers love their children, but after waiting so long for Isaac, Abraham must have loved him dearly. I believe there was a danger of Isaac becoming an idol in his life. And if there’s one thing you can be certain of, it's that God will ask you to sacrifice whatever it is that you love most for Him. He wants to be first in your life. He wants to be first in your heart. And He will ask you to give up anything or anyone that threatens to keep your love from Him.

Jesus said the greatest Commandment is to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” (Matthew 22:37) And God expects nothing less than this from believers. If you dare to love anything or anyone more than you love Him, He will ask you to give it to Him.

Is there something or someone that you love more than the Lord? Jesus won’t accept second place in your heart. Lay it on the altar and offer it up to the Lord. Lay your dream of having kids or getting married at the Lord’s feet. Lay your ministry at his feet. Lay your wealth at His feet. Lay your very life at the feet of Jesus and tell Him that you love Him more than anything and everything else. If Jesus is whispering to your heart and asking you to lay something down, to sacrifice it for him, then follow in Abraham's footsteps and do it. 

Walking Through the Land

The Lord said to Abram...“All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever... Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.

Genesis 13:14-18

I see many parallels between Abram and the believer today. Abram had been promised that his offspring would one day inherit the land of Canaan. The believer also has a promised inheritance, for us it is the whole earth. God commanded Abram to walk throughout the land of Canaan in faith, believing that all of it would one day belong to his descendants. God has called us to go and make disciples throughout the entire earth in faith, believing that some are called to become God's children. As Abram walked through the land he built an altar to his God and made sacrifices worshiping Him. Let us build altars to the Lord wherever we go as well. Let us make sacrifices to share the gospel and bring men to faith in Christ. And let this be our pleasing act of worship to Jesus. When Abram left a place that altar remained as a silent testimony to the Lord. So too the believer will not be left without a witness as we move through the world. If we walk closely with Jesus and worship Him openly, then when we leave a place the impact as well as the memories of our good deeds will remain as a silent testimony to our Lord Jesus.

Find your way to "walk throughout the land" you will one day own. Go on a mission trip. Sacrifice to support missions both financially and in prayer. Live in such a way that you leave altars of worship behind you as a testimony to Jesus wherever you go. Each of us are only given so much time. Make the most of yours. One day the whole earth will be ours, believer. Let's live like it!