Many people revere Abraham.  Why?  Ultimately, because God honoured him!  But why did God do that?  Certainly not because Abraham was perfect; he was a man who made many mistakes.  Even so he has one key quality: whenever God spoke to him, Abraham listened and took it seriously. The Bible says that he believed God and God was very pleased with the man who trusted Him (Genesis 15:6).  God made Abraham his friend (2 Chronicles 20:7) and declared him ‘righteous’ (Romans 4:22).

Abraham's faith was all God needed to see.  Despite some wrong choices, Abraham accepted God’s Word as authoritative, and over his lifetime he learned to obey.  He knew he had nothing to boast about (even though subsequent generations would boast of their great ancestor).  He knew he was totally dependent on God to fulfil every promise – even though He did not know how God would do it.  Abraham’s faith grew over time, as he acted on what God said which prepared him for the next promise and act of obedience.  But he never boasted about his faith or actions.  People who do that are trusting in themselves.  Abraham trusted in God.

The Bible says that God accepted Abraham’s faith as being the grounds on which he was kept in God's love; and one day he would be justified by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 11:39-40).  Contrary to those who organise their religious lives around rules and rituals, Abraham was never commended for his actions, only his faith.  It was all about relationship.  Abraham trusted that God would fulfil His promises.  If he had known about Jesus, he would have believed the gospel (John 8:56).  

Today, many who profess to believe in Jesus are remarkably insecure, unable to trust God's promises for everyday living and worrying about all the things they cannot control.  What is wrong?  Perhaps they have stopped taking God seriously.  Have we allowed our lives to be bigger than God’s power?  If so it is because we have drifted from our spiritual moorings by ignoring God’s Word (James 1:22-25).  Instead, we are inclined to boast about what we do and our position in life – that is not a godly attitude; God hates it (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).  And we cannot use the excuse that we do not know enough of the Bible - there was virtually no Bible for Abraham.  But whatever He heard from God, he believed.  That is also our challenge today!