Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Abraham’s Reasoning.

Hebrews 11v19 “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead.”  (NIV)

Abraham was a man of faith in God. His faith was not irrational, but reasoned. There are three things to note about the situation Abraham faced:

• Abraham’s purpose in life was God-given, but it depended on his son Isaac.
• If Abraham obeyed God, his son Isaac would die.
• No one had been raised from the dead before Abraham.

Thinking naturally, the conclusion of this would be that Abraham’s life would be hopeless going forward and so it must be best not to obey God.

But there was and is a higher logic. The logic based on God. I imagine that Abraham’s reasoning went something like this:

• I know God exists because of what I see around me, and also, I have met with God and interacted with him.
• For God to be God, he must have created life in the first place and have all power and authority
• Therefore, he must be able to bring the dead back to life.

This higher logic, this greater reasoning, gave Abraham the faith to obey God’s command even when, from a worldly point of view, it seemed ridiculous.

Does God’s command seem ridiculous to you? Is there something that seems dead in the water? Believer in God, focus on Him! What is God capable of doing?

May God enable us to live our lives on the basis of this higher reasoning “God can …”.

With love and blessing,

Roland