HEBREWS 11:8-9 – By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.”
Do we long to live a life, a whole life, of pleasing the Lord? Of course we do! Do we desire to know the favor of God in our daily walk with Him? No doubt, but if you are thinking I am about to list a whole bunch of do’s and don’ts toward those two ends, please change your thinking. This is not a nugget exhorting us to go and get busy doing the Christian life. Now that does not mean no obedience. God is pleased by our conscious acts of intentional obedience to His Word. Such acts in our daily lives mark healthy Christians. We should desire and pursue active obeying of His commands. If we are not both desiring and putting known commands into action, please, take time really soon to ask the Lord to help us determine what is wrong, for when desire to obey and actually obeying are noticeably absent in our lives, we are in a very dangerous spiritual condition, very dangerous. But back to the theme . . .
In today’s scripture, we observe the “father of the faith”, Abraham, modeling a life pleasing to the Lord. To grasp this, we must go back to verse six of this chapter in Hebrews – And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). How does God declare we please Him? By faith. How did Abraham please God with his faith? Two ways.
First, by faith Abraham obeyed God’s command to leave his home and go west. Here is the tie-in with obedience. True saving faith ALWAYS produces progressive obedience to God’s Word. It is a false faith that lacks obedience. True faith that pleases the Lord says, “I love Your Word. It is my daily delight and I will aggressively, compassionately and consistently obey it, not perfectly, but sincerely.” And that is what Abraham did.
Another act from Abraham proving genuine true faith and thus pleasing the Lord is he didn’t need all the answers–And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. Abraham didn’t get the whole plan of God up front. No Google Maps with the journey all laid out. No trip ticket. No itinerary, just pack up the wagon and go. God commands him to move and Abraham doesn’t respond with a hesitancy of “Where? How long?” and a host of other unbelieving questions. Friends, true faith says, “I don’t understand what You are doing Lord, but I trust what You are doing.” Unbelief languishes in paralyzing fear and wants to understand everything in advance. That isn’t faith. Remember God commands us to trust His ways, not understand His ways. And true faith, pleasing to the Lord, responds, “I am good with that, Lord.”
PRAYER: “Father, may I grow in child-like trust in Your Word and be pleasing to You by living a life of pleasing faith.”
QUOTE: “God calls us to trust His ways not understand His ways. To seek understanding before obeying is unbelief.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim