Hello Dear Listeners, welcome to overcoming temptations. My name is Oyisi. Today our topic is titled: Abraham.
Why he was different.
Hebrews 11: 1-2 says Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. King James version says Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
Abraham is the father of 3 of the world’s renown faiths or religion- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These faith do not agree on many things but they all acknowledge Abraham as their father or Ibrahim as he is called in Arabic. He is the father of Monotheism or the believe in one God. In Abraham’s days people worshipped many idols or gods made of stone, wood, gold and so on. So to claim that there was only one supreme almighty God was very strange in those times. Abraham was different because he did not want to go with the crowd, he believed in God and did not care whatever the views the whole world had, he was not afraid to be different. Why was Abraham different, he had one great quality and that is faith.
Hebrew 11: 8 says By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Imagine a man who is comfortable decides to embark on a journey without knowing where he was going, people would have thought he was insane or mad but he took his family and went because he believed God. Hebrews 11:14 – 16 says 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. So Abraham knew he was a pilgrim on earth and everything was temporal the houses, cattle, money etc So his heart was on the heavenly home, the Bible says he had the opportunity to go to worship his father idols but he did not.
Hebrews 11:17-18. 17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promise was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. Wow this was the height of faith, Abraham was ready to kill his son by God’s instruction, of course his wife and even his son may have thought that he was unreasonable how can a man kill his own son, yet he was ready to displease even the closest people to him His family if that will please God. How many of us can go against our loved ones, family and friends if that is what it takes to please God.
There is something about faith, it makes God happy, when you believe Him. Heb 11:6 says it is impossible to please God without faith. Usually your faith is tested when it does not make sense to believe God, that is when you need to listen to your heart not your head. Abraham would have appeared to be ridiculous in his days but today he is the father of many nations. Out of the 7 billion population of the world over 50% 3.8 billion acknowledge Abraham as their father. So why was Abraham different? He believed in God, he had faith and that made all the difference. Wish you a blessed day.
