Hebrews 11:17
“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,”
Everything has a requirement for it to work, and faith is no exception. We cannot be reminded enough that one will never please God without faith. The Christian life is one that requires faith. Without it you will not be successful nor will you please God. With it you will find the miracles of God and have the satisfaction that you have pleased Him.
God used the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son to show us the requirements of faith. This act to sacrifice his son was not an easy thing to do, but because he had faith in God and His Word he did it. I find in this story there are three requirements of faith.
First, faith requires obedience. You will always find that a command is given by God before faith is initiated. Just read through Hebrews 11 and you will find that each time God commanded someone to do something. In the verse above, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Abraham obeyed God though this was not an easy command to obey.
Faith’s commandment is never easy. Oftentimes when God commands us to do something it will go completely against what we want to do, but you will never experience the blessings of faith until you obey. For instance, you never experienced the blessing of salvation until you obeyed God by faith to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour. Once you obeyed, you realized the blessings of salvation. Likewise, you will never live a life of faith and experience its blessings until you completely obey God in all that He commands you to do.
Second, faith requires giving up something very dear. God told Abraham to give his only son. This was no doubt the biggest test Abraham experienced in his lifetime. This was his only son. This was the hope he for which he had looked his entire life, yet God wanted him to give up his son for Him.
Friend, faith will require you to give up something very dear. When I surrendered to be an evangelist, I gave up my dream of flying jets. Many people in full-time service gave up lucrative careers to obey God by faith to serve Him. Giving up what we want proves to God how serious we are about serving Him. If you are not willing to give up everything you have for God, then you will never experience the blessings that come from living the life of faith.
Third, faith requires complete trust in God. Abraham’s obedience to sacrifice his son was an act of complete trust. Faith always requires complete trust that God knows what He is doing. Oftentimes what God asks us to do by faith will go against all human reasoning, but you must completely trust God that He knows what He is doing. Faith would not be difficult if we understood and agreed with everything it asks of us.
Are you willing to fulfill the requirements of faith? Christian, let me encourage you to do so. The life of faith truly is a rewarding life. Space would not allow me to tell all the blessings I have experienced because I’ve surrendered to the requirements it takes to live the life of faith. The miracles and blessings are great, all because of faith. You will never see God work through your life in a great way until you are willing to submit to faith’s requirements.