Title

The Response of Faith

Scripture
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
(Genesis 22:1)
Devotional
What do you do when God calls you to the test? How do you respond? Do you say like Abraham, “Here I am”, or do you, like Jonah, flee from His presence? How we respond depends on where we stand in the relationship between our faith and our understanding.

Faith responds by believing, trusting, and obeying. Understanding realizes that God’s testing is not for the purpose of informing God of our knowledge and faith. Rather, understanding realizes that the testing of God is in order that we might know what we believe and how much we trust Him. God knows our hearts.(1) He not only knows what we need before we ask,(2) He knows our faith and willingness to obey. He likewise knows that we need to know as well. The purpose of the testing of the Lord is that we and those around us will know as He knows.


(1) Luke 16:15, (2) Matthew 6:8
Text For The Day
Genesis 22:1: Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
 
Thought For The Day
 “In World magazine, interviewer Larry King said: ‘I can't make that leap that a lot of people around me have made into belief that there's some judge somewhere. I have a lot of respect for true people of faith…. I've done so many interviews on it. I've always searched. But as someone said, ‘Did you ever sit down and read the Bible cover to cover?’ The answer's no, because I don't know who wrote it. I'm too in my head to be into faith. Faith is a wonderful thing. I envy people who have it. I just can't make the leap. I remember as a kid, my father died when I was young, and that was unexplainable to me. The God of the Old Testament, I didn't like things he did. ‘Abraham, sacrifice your son.’ That always bothered me as a kid. I remember thinking, Why would he do that to Abraham? As a test? So I said to myself, I don't know. I just don't know. That's still true to this day.’” Bob Jones, It's Good to Be King
Questions To Ponder

[1] It must be “obedience.” 
Morning Study Guide
Definition: “In the ‘School of Faith’ we must have occasional tests, or we will never know where we are spiritually,” Warren W. Wiersbe, former pastor of Moody Church, Chicago
 
Reference: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him,” James 1:12 NIV
 
Application: Be vary aware of the daily testing of the Lord: it may be on the road, in your house or at your work. It might even be in the place you call “church.”