Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Adam forfeited the privilege of carrying and extending the commanded blessing to humanity because he transgressed the commandment of God. However, God still wanted the blessing on mankind, so He began looking for a man to carry and extend the blessing to others and God found Abraham. When God called Abraham, he responded to the call and followed Him. Abraham’s prompt obedience is worthy of emulation; he departed at the Word of the Lord. This is the obedience of faith. This was what thrilled God about Abraham – his obedience of faith. This was the reason God placed the blessing on Abraham and on his seed after him. By the obedience of faith, Abraham has become a template of faith to everyone who believes. In fact, the opening verse is a prophetic admonition to everyone that seeks the Lord and that follow after righteousness, to look to Abraham. We are told by the Word to look to Abraham in matters regarding seeking the Lord and following after righteousness. Now, Abraham is more than an individual who walked with God, he is a template, and example, a model of faith and devotion to God.
Abraham obtained the righteousness of God by faith. In Genesis 15:6, we are told that Abraham believed in the Lord and He counted it unto him as righteousness. So, Abraham’s faith in God was counted as righteousness. So, faith is what God counts as righteousness. When we believe God, He imputes or counts it unto us as righteousness. So, Abraham’s righteousness was of faith. In other words, faith in God was Abraham’s righteousness or justification before God. Abraham didn’t trust in his own self-righteousness. But rather, Abraham believed in and trusted in Jehovah absolutely as His justification or righteousness, and because he trusted in the Lord, he obeyed Him absolutely. To Abraham, the obedience of faith was his righteousness before God. Abraham was made right by his faith in the Lord and he lived right by the same faith; for the just shall live by faith. Again, everywhere Abraham went, he built an altar unto the Lord, where he called upon the Name of the Lord. That’s devotion, isn’t it? That’s seeking the Lord, isn’t it? So, Hebrews 11:6 summarizes Abraham’s faith life: he believed the Lord and sought Him diligently and was rewarded for doing so. Understand that without faith it is impossible to please God, for everyone that comes to God must believe that he is, which is righteousness unto that person; and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, which is seeking the Lord. Here is the summary: if you truly believe in the Lord, you will trust Him with your life, and you will seek him diligently; for God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
SOLID FRONT (YOUR CONFESSION):
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I declare that I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Name, I seek the Lord diligently in absolute devotion to Him, like Abraham.
Further Meditation:
Genesis 12:1-4; Hebrews 6:1-12.