DEVOTION - FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2011

GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2011

“FOREFATHER OF OUR FAITH”

BY

BOB COY

We now come to a figure whose very name is synonymous with faith…Abraham. Although Abraham was far from perfect, the Bible is very deliberate in holding him up as the prime pattern of what it means to walk by faith. Not only is he the physical forefather of the Nation of Israel, but He is also identified as the spiritual forefather of all who place their faith in God.

Abraham's story starts with God telling him to leave his homeland and to journey to a foreign land that would ultimately become an inheritance for his ancestors. He heard, he believed, and he went. Next, God promised to bless him and his wife with a son, despite their being well into their elder years and being unable to conceive up to that point. But Abraham heard God's promise, he believed God's promise, and the Lord fulfilled His promise.

And that's the recurring theme in Abraham's life. He takes what God tells him, regardless of how difficult or improbable it may seem, and he simply trusts it. He puts his faith in it. So much so that Paul uses Abraham to demonstrate one of the most powerful truths ever expressed, justification by God through faith:

And not being weak in faith…He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith…being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform…therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." (Romans 4:19-22 NKJV)