To be blessed by God means that you share in the character of God. You can say that the blessing of God makes you Godlike. Abraham was a living example of God’s presence and likeness in all that he did.
God promised Abraham that through him, “…all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3b). That means that God chose Abraham to show the world who God is. Abraham would display God’s likeness to people of his day, but when you add the word “all” you also include everybody, everywhere, for all time. Thus, Abraham is a chosen father for God whose influence and testimony continues even today. We are blessed because God chose Abraham to be a blessing.
How does God use Abraham today to bless me and everyone all over the world?
The answer is repeated three times throughout the Bible:
“…he believed in the Lord; and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
Those words are repeated by the apostle Paul in Romans 4:3, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” And then again in James 2:23, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.”
There are two ways Abraham’s blessing becomes our blessing. First, we are blessed by Abraham’s testimony of faith. He believed God.
R.C. Sproul said, “It’s one thing to believe in God and another thing to believe God.”
Abraham believed God by doing what God wanted him to do. His faith was lived out by his actions. Abraham was a father who believed God and showed us how to be a friend of God.
Then, Abraham was a blessed father who was righteous before God. God declared him to be “right.” In other words, Abraham was the right kind of father. He was right in God’s eyes.
Was Abraham perfect?
No, he messed up occasionally. But every time God spent time with him to renew his faith, Abraham did the right thing. Abraham worshipped God, listened to God, and trusted God.
Righteousness is putting God where He belongs in your life. You cannot be right with God and put God in some place other than on the top shelf where He belongs.
We thank God today for our fathers. They are truly blessed men of God who have been a blessing to their families and many others. Fathers renew your faith in God on this Father’s Day. Determine to walk by faith like Abraham did. Ask God to give you what you need to be righteous in His sight. Put God at the center of everything and you will truly be blessed.