The Measure of Our Faith is Obedience

January 11

Genesis 21-22

Psalm 7:9-17

Proverbs 1:32-33

Matthew 8:18-34

The Measure of our Faith is Obedience

“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.’ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.” Genesis 22:2-3 NIV

As a parent, I cannot fathom being asked to do what God asked Abraham to do. But it is even more amazing when we look back at Abraham’s history. God chose him, set him apart to be the father of a great nation. God told Abraham that He was going to make his descendants as numerous as the stars. Many years passed and still Abraham did not have any children, so Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands and arranged for her servant Hagar to have a child for Abraham. God told Abraham that Ishmael was not the child through whom God would fulfill His promise. Then, when Abraham was 99 years old, Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Isaac. Abraham had been waiting for this child his whole life. He must have cherished him and loved him dearly. This child was the fulfillment of God’s promise to him. God had told him so and he believed God completely. “After waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” Hebrews 6:15 (NIV)

Then one day, out of the blue, God tells him to take Isaac to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Abraham must have been absolutely heart broken, confused, angry, and devastated. And yet the Bible says that early the next morning he got up, saddled his donkey, chopped the wood, and set out on his journey. I don’t know about you, but when God tells me to do something I don’t want to do, I don’t typically get up early and start doing it. I like my sleep. I do not like to get up early to do things I enjoy doing, much less something I don’t want to do. Not Abraham. He so fully trusted God that he got up early and obeyed. Hebrews 11:19 says, “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead.” (NIV) God had told him that through Isaac he would be a great nation with descendants as numerous as the stars, so he believed that somehow, someway God would make it happen. He did what God told him to do, even though it didn’t make sense. Fortunately, because of his immediate obedience, God spared Isaac and provided a ram for the sacrifice. If God had not intervened, Abraham would have killed his only son in obedience to God. The measure of our faith is our obedience.