Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3)

As we read about God’s astounding promise to Abram––his name was later changed to Abraham––try to put yourself in his shoes. At this point in the story, nothing had actually changed, practically speaking, in Abraham’s life. He still had to get up the next day and decide whether to take his family to this new land without knowing exactly where it was or what the journey would involve. The question was, Would he trust God’s promise?

Throughout the rest of Abraham’s life, and throughout Scripture (see Romans 4 and Galatians 3), Abraham is known as a man who did trust God. In fact, Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham “believed the Lord, and he [the Lord] counted it to him as righteousness.” From the very beginning of the Bible, then, we see a pattern for those who have a right relationship with God and walk in obedience to Him. They do so by faith.

Now, to be clear, biblical faith is not a blind faith where you just close your eyes, step out into nothingness, and hope that someone catches you. No, Abraham trusted in promises that God had clearly given, which is what we see throughout the Bible when people put their faith in God. This is what faith should look like in our lives as well.

We are saved from our sins by trusting in the promises of God. God says that if you “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). So in order to be saved and enter into a right relationship with God, we must trust that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead as Lord of all.

So as we think about Christ’s first coming, or advent, and the anticipation of His second coming, let’s remember those like Abraham who went before us. They didn’t have all the details of what God’s redemption would look like, but they had His promises. And that was enough.

PRAYING IN LIGHT OF TODAY’S PASSAGE

Thank God that He is faithful and trustworthy, and ask Him to strengthen your faith in His promises so that you might walk in glad obedience to His Word.