By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 8:8)
Abraham was a person whose life was defined by trust in God. He trusted God when God told him to leave his homeland and venture into unknown territory.
He trusted God when God told him that he and Sarah would have a son born to them through whom Abraham would be the father of many nations.
He trusted God when God instructed him to sacrifice that very same son, and that trust was rewarded when God spared Isaac.
Abraham trusted God’s promise through good times and bad, through uncertainty. That kind of trust is called faith.
So the New Testament writer of Hebrews upholds this faith of Abraham as an example. Faith is not some vague wish or belief “that there could be” a god or having some idea that there “could be” an afterlife — as faith is popularly understood.
Biblical faith always rests on the promise of God.
We, who claim Christ as Lord are called to trust that, through Jesus, God has forgiven our sins and has promised us eternal life. We are also called to trust in Christ to return and make all things new.
