Abram placed His trust in what the LORD had said,
and the LORD attributed this to Abram as righteousness
In recent weeks the preaching, expounding both Romans in the mornings and Hebrews in the evenings, has brought into focus Abraham as the father of the faithful. And especially the passage, Genesis 15.1-6, where Abram is taken out of his tent by God to gaze up at the stars and told to count them; and then told by Go that this would be as the number of his descendents. It reminds me, when once staying on a kibbutz in the Judaean wilderness, of going outside at night and looking at the amazing night sky, free of light pollution. Never had I seen so many stars!
And it reminds me that faith is always a consequence of hope rediscovered. Of gazing in wonder and seeing afresh what God has done, reading again in the Scriptures and recalling afresh His deeds and His ways. I’m thankful for this. That my faith is not something that starts with me. But is based on the objective reality of God’s glory and goodness, all leading us towards and finding fulfilment in Jesus Christ.
