Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
Seven times in Romans 4 Paul tells us that Abraham is “our father”(vss. 1, 11, 12, 12, 16, 17 18). Therefore, his life deserves our closer attention.
First, he comes on stage as the child who worshipped the God who made the moon, rather than the moon as his father Terah did. All his life long poor Terah had a strain of that idolatry in him; but the lesson Abraham teaches children is: believe in the God who made the moon, rather than in the idol of the moon as your father believes!
Yes, children should respect their parents; but the commandment means, “in the Lord,” for that is how Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.”
Jesus respected His mother in the flesh; but He told her when He was 12 that He must be about [His] Father’s business” (Luke 2:49).
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “he that comes to God must [1] believe that He is, and [2] that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently.” Abraham believed both; in Genesis 12:2, 3 we find seven glorious New Covenant promises that God made to Abraham; at first, he stumbled and staggered in his faith, but at last he learned to believe them totally. So can we, and so will we when the earth is to be lightened with the glory of God’s final message.
His wife Sarai (later, Sarah) led him into the Old Covenant in his ill-fated marriage with Hagar her slave. Abraham made a bad bargain, but he was honorable when he kept the terms. Don’t get discouraged when you finally realize that the Old Covenant has led you into spiritual bondage (cf. Gal. 4:24) and don’t blame the pastors or teachers who ignorantly led you there; be thankful when you first discover the New Covenant and rejoice ever more in it.
It leads you into the reverse of “bondage.” It’s the “glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). Hardships, loss, even persecution, you endure with a smile for the New Covenant cements your union with Christ; what you endure is fellowship with Him in His sufferings (Phil. 3:10), and that is a link of your soul with Him that will be eternal joy. All this you learn from your father Abraham. The Lord willing, maybe more tomorrow.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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