Father Abraham
And so the promise was based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God’s free gift to all of Abraham’s descendants—not just to those who obey the Law, but also to those who believe as Abraham did. For Abraham is the spiritual father of us all; as the scriptures say, ‘I have made you father of many nations.’ So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed—the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist. (verses 16,17)
Read Romans 4: 13-25
Abraham was a truly remarkable man. His faith was tested again and again by the Lord. At seventy-five he was told to leave his home to seek a mysterious holy land. When he was a hundred he was asked to believe that his barren ninety-year-old wife would bear a son. He was later told to sacrifice this child to the Lord. Even in this he obeyed his God, only to be prevented from slaying his son, and then he was praised for his obedience. Yet Abraham was not perfect. He sinned over and over again. He doubted, he connived, he committed adultery, but he never lost his faith, and for this God made him the spiritual father of us all.
Abraham is a shining, very human example for you to follow. You will sin, but your sins will be forgiven through your faith in the Lord. This is God’s promise to you, just as it was to Abraham.
Lord, strengthen my faith, so that I, like Abraham, will never lose sight of your forgiveness. Amen.
by Kathy Hoopman, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)
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