An Unshakable Foundation - Abraham

Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Genesis 15:6

If you were to ask ten churchgoing men how to please God, you might get ten different answers, much like the following:

• —Read the Bible and pray more.
• —Do more to bring family, neighbors, and friends to Christ.
• —Be more attentive to your wife and kids.
• —Be honest in all business dealings.
• —Give more money to your church and missions.

No doubt each of these is an important priority for any man of faith. All of them please God. But to have the impact God intends, they must join forces with faith. Faith is foundational to everything you want to do.

The Bible extols Abraham as a man of incredible faith. Though far from perfect, he habitually took God at his word and believed that he would do just what he promised.

Because of Abraham’s faith, God made him the father of many great nations. Through Israel, God promised to bless the entire world with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. On a more personal level, God blessed Abraham by calling him a man in good standing with his Creator.

God made Abraham some big promises, and Abraham had no way of knowing how he would keep them. Through his deep and abiding faith, Abram (or Abraham in later years) remained more focused on God’s nature than on how he would bring things about. He simply believed that he served a faithful and true God who always did what he promised to do.

That’s the kind of faith God loves to see operative in your life. It’s the kind of faith you need as the foundation for everything you do.

You please God most not just by doing things that the Bible instructs you to do, but by doing them out of a joyful heart of faith. Such a heart knows that God is who he says he is and that he rewards those who believe him when he says, “I will.”