Sometimes there are things that we really long for deep in our hearts and everything else pales in comparison. Abraham longed deeply for the son promised to him by the LORD, and all his earthly wealth hardly mattered to him in comparison. In the Old Testament reading, the LORD came to Abraham and reminded him that He was not only Abraham’s shield, but his greatest treasure. That LORD, who keeps His promises as the all-powerful God of “free and faithful grace,” assured Abraham he would have a son…and through that son’s descendants, most importantly, a Savior.
Some say, “You just gotta have faith” striving to keep a positive attitude in life. But that sentence is only half complete. What makes faith great remains the object of faith, the LORD and His promises in Jesus. In fact, the birth of God’s Son, Jesus, is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise given and repeated hundreds of times in the Old Testament. By the LORD’s grace, we have possession of that promise and now with certainty equal to Abraham’s for the fulfillment of the LORD’s other promise—a heavenly inheritance, everlasting life in heaven.