“Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.” Isaiah 51:2
Dear Ones:
How does God make a man or woman of faith? In the book of Isaiah, the Lord says: “Hearken (Listen) to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord…,” “…Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah.” (51:1,2) The Lord directs our attention to Abraham and Sarah, because in His dealings with them, He shows us how He works in us. He is determined to make men and women of faith of us all.
The first thing we see in the life of Abraham is that God “called” him when was living in Mesopotamia. In the twelfth chapter of Genesis, we find where God not only spoke to Abraham, but also appeared unto him. The revelation of God to Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia, his consequent conviction to leave there for a place he had never seen, reveals to us that God revealed Himself to Abraham in such a way that he recognized who He was. Also, the fact that Abraham knew when God spoke to him, and what He said, is essential in understanding that he was called of God. Much is made in Scripture concerning the calling of God, as it applies to the individual. Peter wrote in his second letter, “….brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” (1:10) Paul would write to the Roman believers, “…For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance.” (11:29) Why is it so very important in considering how God works to bring us to faith, that we should consider our calling? It is because the calling of God begins with God Himself. It is the very intervention of God in the life, impressing upon the individual that there is a purpose, direction, that God has purposed to accomplish in the individual believer. With that calling comes the knowledge of the will of God concerning the life, and the certainty of God’s blessing upon the life. Abraham was called of God, God bringing him to the realization that his life had eternal value and worth. The calling also affected Abraham’s entire perspective, “…For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Heb. 11:10) That perspective was eternal.
Secondly, with the calling, which was singular and individual, came the blessing of God upon him. When God calls an individual, He puts His hand of blessing upon the life. In heaven, in Christ, that blessing is complete. On this earth, something of the heavenly in Christ, by the Spirit, is known. It is as the believer trusts God for his blessing, much like Jacob who wrestled with the Angel of the Lord, so that He would bless him, that God intervenes in the life to reveal Christ in and through the life by the Spirit. Strength, and every resource becomes available to the believer in Christ. Abraham knew this blessing of God in a very tangible, yet, spiritual way. The spiritual blessing revealed itself in that God taught Abraham how to live and worship, revealing Himself to him. Though Abraham would be blessed in every way materially, he was also detached from all else in his heart. He lived always in a tent, mobile and unattached, yet established and secure in God.
Lastly, God had promised Abraham that he would “multiply” him, his seed. God would “increase” him. However, this increase was not just in the fulness of all that we would consider as blessings. He would increase Abraham’s capacity to know and experience God. This dimension of “increasing” him speaks of fullness. It is a fullness much like that of which the Apostle Paul spoke: “…I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” (Phil. 4:12) God made these men to be men of faith, living by their calling, blessed, and increasingly fruitful.
Dear Father, Make us to be those who live by faith according to Your purpose. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad