[1]
James 2:23 Good News Translation
23 And the scripture came true that said,
“Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.”
And so Abraham was called God's friend.
The faith chapter of Hebrews devotes 13 verses to Abraham,
far more than to any other person of faith.
We are encouraged to increase our faith by reading the Word
of God. And that is indeed a great source of faith. Romans 10:17 KJV states, “So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The same verse
in the Good News Translation indicates that faith comes through hearing: “So
then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through
preaching Christ.” We are urged to read Scripture and thereby increase our
faith. In this day of audio books, we can listen to God’s word while driving
down the street or highway. So even listening while driving can become a faith
building event.
Now think back to the times of Abraham. The Bible doesn’t
tell us whether Abraham could read or write. That really doesn’t matter because
there was no Bible to read. None! So how did Abraham build his faith?
“Hey, God spoke to Abraham all the time,” you might reply.
God did indeed speak to Abraham in person, in dreams, and in visions. Read
Gensis again; it was only about 5 or 6 times that Scripture records God
speaking to Abraham. That’s something like once about every 20 years or so!
That would hardly be frequently enough for me to build my faith.
Furthermore, Abraham came out of an idolatrous culture in
Chaldea. Where did Abraham get his religious training to worship the one true
God. There is evidence that the worship of Yahweh always had followers in the
Near East. These included the wise men who came to Bethlehem to celebrate the
birth of Christ some 2,000 years later.
Studying the genealogy lists in Genesis gives me a hint.
Noah’s son Shem was born 100 years before the flood and survived the flood by
about 500 years. He lived with righteous Noah for at least 100 years, and he
outlived Abraham after the flood. Maybe, just maybe, Abraham encountered Shem
and spent some time with him when he was young. Shem may have instilled the
faith in God that gave Abraham the direction he needed to serve God.
Lord, thank You for making a friend out of Abraham who
has passed the friendship down to us, some 4,000 years later. Please keep
encouraging us in our faith, that we too may be known as friends of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment