August 19, 2016 – James 2:21-22

Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. James 2:21-22Abraham is a man whose faith in God takes my breath away.  His total heart was prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac, just because God asked it.  He believed in a God he could not see.When Dad told me this story I was six years old, the enormity of loss was conveyed through his uplifted arm, preparing to strike, even as Abraham did.  When I held my first born son and remembered, the enormity of what God asked of Abraham, it  crushed my heart.  Yet, this is the loss God suffered when he sacrificed his One and Only Son by sending Him to earth to die for our sins.Are we willing to believe God the way Abraham believed God, even to sacrificing time, resources and our comfort to serve God?  It is a question each of us must answer.  We can’t wait for the answer to the question we always until we ask, “What’s in it for me?”Would we follow through if we were counted righteous because we believe God?  Would we like to be called the friend of God?  Abraham not only believed, but obeyed God.  The angel stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, and gave a lamb to be offered instead of Isaac.  Abraham was told to travel away from home when he was 75 years old.  That is the age when any extra effort in life takes dedication.It isn’t just faith in God, but what we do as well.  As the seasons of our lives march on, our way of serving God changes.  How do we serve at 30 or at 80 changes.  It is when we see the truth of the last sentence we know that what we choose to do counts…we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.