Becoming a Friend of God!
Greetings! In the past two weeks I wrote about Enoch’s and Noah’s journey with God. This morning, as we conclude the Ten Days of Prayer, I would suggest that we consider the life of Abraham, who is “called” the father of faith. The Bible presents him as someone who had a special relationship with God: “And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend”. (James 2:23 NIV) God called Abram (Abraham) out of his land, promised him to become a father of a multitude, and that all families on earth would be blessed through him (Gen. 12:1-3). He accepted that call by faith and left to a place that God would show to him. However, 24 years had passed until the Lord reaffirmed to him that he would be a father to many (Gen 17:5-6).
According to God’s plan, everything would go well with Abraham if he obeyed and walked with Him. God even counseled him: “walk before me faithfully and be blameless.” (Gen 17:1 NIV) However, Abraham was not immune to the human temptation to help God to accomplish His plan. He failed when he accepted Sarai’s (Sarah) suggestion to have a son with her servant Hagar so that his offspring could come through her. Ishmael was born through this plan. But God had the original plan and that is why He counseled Abraham to walk with Him, be patient, and not try to change His Divine ways. God “envisioned” for Abraham and Sarah to have a son of their own! How come? Both were old and it would take a miracle for that to happen. That was exactly so — Isaac was a miracle baby. Although Abraham disappointed God here and there during this process — lied about Sarah being his sister (twice), maneuvered through Ishmael’s plan; Abraham showed a tremendous faith by his willingness to offer Isaac as a sacrifice when asked by God to do so (Gen 22:1-19). Suddenly Abraham received that strange message to sacrifice the promised son… How did He believe that it was coming from God — so unusual and different from the plan that God had devised? There is only one answer to explain that: Abraham walked so closely with God and had learned to identify His voice from everyone’s else. For me, this highlights the fact that Abraham had then fully accepted God’s plan and had allowed Him to mould his will according to His.
Two things that we need to do as Abraham did:
1 – Pray and wait for God to manifest His Will.
2 – Trust that God is present in our lives everyday and ask Him: What should we do, Lord?
That was Abraham’s secret for walking with God. I pray that we are also willing to submit our will to God and walk with Him, daily.
Happy Sabbath!
In His Service,
Wesley Torres
President
