Daily Devotionals

Pressure Point Week 5: Thursday

You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. James 2:22

When I think about people in Scripture with remarkable faith, their obedience stands out. These people were given challenging, unbelievable, or risky tasks from God and acted in obedience to God because of their unwavering faith. Faith in God, after all, demands obedience. If we trust Him, we will obey Him in whatever He asks us to do.

James explained the importance of obedient actions regarding faith in James 2. After explaining the importance of faith and good deeds, James gave examples of people who modeled faith and good deeds throughout Scripture. His first example was Abraham. He wrote, "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" (verse 21). Abraham's story that James wrote about here is found in Genesis 22. In this chapter, God called Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, on an altar. Now, we know that God values human life and that Isaac was the son God had promised to build Abraham's lineage through. Because we know these things, we can reason that Isaac's life would be spared. Abraham chose to obey God and took steps to sacrifice his son, trusting God the entire time. Ultimately an angel of the Lord appeared and commanded Abraham not to go through with sacrificing Isaac. God provided a ram nearby to sacrifice instead of Isaac. Abraham proved his genuine faith in God. He trusted him with his only son, whom he loved. How did Abraham prove his faith? He obeyed God and trusted His plan. James concluded that Abraham's "actions made his faith complete" (verse 22). How did they make his faith complete? His obedience demonstrated the faith that he claimed to believe. 

What was true for Abraham is true for us as well. Genuine faith will express itself through obedience. If we have faith, then we will obey. After all, if we trust God and have faith in Him, why wouldn't we obey? So, my friends, let's put our faith into action and obey. God is trustworthy, and we can trust His plans.

Moving toward action

It is time to take a step of faith by obeying God. Is there something that He has been calling you to do that you have been putting off? Maybe He's called you to share your faith with someone or serve at Sagebrush. Whatever He calls you to do, take a step toward obedience today. Make a hard phone call. Sign up to serve. Invite a neighbor to church with you. Let's demonstrate the same unwavering faith as Abraham and so many others in Scripture.

Going Deeper

Genesis 22:1-24

"Some time later, God tested Abraham's faith. "Abraham!" God called.

"Yes," he replied. "Here I am."

2 "Take your son, your only son-yes, Isaac, whom you love so much-and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you."

3 The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 "Stay here with the donkey," Abraham told the servants. "The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back."

6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac's shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"We have the fire and the wood," the boy said, "but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?"

8 "God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son," Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

9 When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Yes," Abraham replied. "Here I am!"

12 "Don't lay a hand on the boy!" the angel said. "Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son."

13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means "the Lord will provide"). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."

15 Then the angel of the Lord called again to Abraham from heaven. 16 "This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that 17 I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. 18 And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed-all because you have obeyed me."

19 Then they returned to the servants and traveled back to Beersheba, where Abraham continued to live.

20 Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor's wife, had borne Nahor eight sons. 21 The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, 24 Nahor had four other children from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah."