Devotional 19 July 2025

The writer of Hebrews presents Abraham as a key witness in the great hall of faith. After Abel, who testifies by death (Hebrews 11:4), Enoch, who testifies by life (11:5), and Noah, who testifies by obedient endurance (11:7), we now come to Abraham, whose life speaks through childlike obedience.

Abraham’s faith was not based on what he could see or understand. He was not given a map, nor a clear timeline. Yet he obeyed God’s call to leave his country, his kindred, and his father’s house to go to the land God would show him (Genesis 12:1). Hebrews 11:8 highlights this as the very essence of faith: “He went out, not knowing where he was going.”

This is the heart of the exhortation in Hebrews. The audience is being called to leave behind the visible signs of the old covenant—the temple, sacrifices, priesthood—and to trust in the better, unseen realities found in Christ. Hebrews 10:1 reminds us that the law was only “a shadow of the good things to come.” Clinging to the shadows is safe and familiar, but faith demands movement toward what cannot be seen with physical eyes (2 Corinthians 4:18). The invitation is the same for us today: to forsake the comfort of the known and seen, and to press on toward the inheritance that is ours through Christ.

Romans 4:20–21 speaks of Abraham’s unwavering trust: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God… fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” And this is the promise we inherit as well, if we are willing to follow in his footsteps. As Hebrews 6:12 exhorts us, we are to “be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Abraham is not just a hero of the past—he is the pattern for our present. Galatians 3:7 says, “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.” We show ourselves to be his children when we, too, step out in trust, even when the path ahead is hidden.

Faith is not a passive belief, but an active trust. It obeys. It moves. It clings to the Word of God as sufficient, even when all other signs are absent. Like Abraham, we are called to go, even when we do not know where we’re going, because we do know the One who calls us.

Abraham, our fourth witness of faith still speaks through this child like obedience. May we have ears to hear.