Faith

Romans 4:4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.

I have one grandson of my six grandsons who has discovered the joy of faith. Let me explain.

He is twelve. He offers his services to his neighbors, cutting grass, pulling weeds, walking pets, just about anything you can imagine. He doesn’t negotiate a price up front. In fact, I think for him, the money isn’t the motivation. He just likes helping other people.

Well, people have responded by giving him money when he has finished. Needless to say, he always has money for the things he wants to buy. And he is always working. He won’t have any problems making it in life.

But he is working by faith. People might not give him any money. They might just give him a hearty “Thank you” when he is done. He has no guarantee of any payment.

That is faith. He trusts that his needs will be provided for and that he will be OK. And people see that attitude and they reward it. This is what alluded to in our text today.

Abraham believed God, and that belief put credit in his relationship with God account. There was no contract with God ahead of Abraham’s faith in action. God had not said, “Trust me and I will credit righteousness to you” before this transaction.

But something in Abraham saw the character of this God who showed up in his life and he thought he could trust this kind of God. And so when this God asked him to kill his only son, the son who was the object of God’s promise to him, he didn’t hesitate. He obeyed.

And when he obeyed, he got something he hadn’t anticipated. He was given right standing with God. This was not something even mentioned in the ‘ask’ the LORD had made. “Sacrifice your son” with no promise of deliverance or reward for obedience.

No wonder Abraham is the founding father of our faith. No wonder Paul looks back and lifts up this kind of trusting. This is the kind of trust we need to have, not focusing on what comes our direction, but focusing on the character of the one we are trusting.