faith credited as righteousness

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Romans 4:13

God spoke with a childless old man in the most promising way possible. He spoke to a homeless man who left all that was familiar to obey a simple call to go to a land that God alone would show him. Eventually God gave him one son in that promise. And eventually God gave him one family cemetery plot as his only possession. All the while God kept a bigger vision burning in old Abraham’s brain: descendants more numerous than sand on a beach… an inheritance that would bless the entire planet.

Faith led an insignificant, childless, homeless, ancient man to become a “father of faith” to us all. The Jews were born of him physically. The nations, through the Savior Who arrived at the right time through Abraham’s descendants, were blessed by him spiritually. And faith was the means to it all. He is “the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11). Faith was the root of all that God has made righteous as Abraham believed what God said and in faithful obedience heeded God’s call in a lifetime of trust (Romans 4:9b).

Lord,

By faith I come to You today. By faith in the gospel story I am also blessed. By trusting in the One Who is the Promise to all, the One Whom Abraham longed for, the One Who is the only way all nations of this world are blessed… by faith in Jesus Who lived, died, rose again, and lives now… by that faith I am forever blessed.

Thank You for the life lesson of that old wandering dreamer who held firmly to Your call, even as he significantly struggled to see Your promise kept. Your grace met him by faith even in a few faltering failures! He conceived a son with the wrong woman. You blessed Him still. He minimized his marriage. You protected what he trivialized. And You reminded Abraham of what the real promises were. May Abraham’s faith grow in me, now credited with Christ’s righteousness, so this world may also rejoice in faith as the gospel of Jesus continues to transform it!

Amen