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Mar 28, 2023 06:00am

Abraham: A Man Who Feared God

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

Talk Time

What do you fear?

Who are some people in your life you deeply respect? How do you show your respect? Do you fear letting them down?

What do you think the phrase “fear God” means?

Bible Connection

For many of us, when we hear the phrase “fear God”, we may thing this means to be scared of Him – but that’s not entirely true! While God is in control of everything and can do anything, the phrase “fear God” means to have such a holy respect of God and His rules, you would want to follow them. You would want to live life His way. The Bible is full of people who feared God – people He blessed because of this fear! Noah was one of them. Hebrews 11:7 says he built the ark out of a godly fear. Because of this godly fear, he saved his family from the flood! You see, everyone, but Noah and his family, was evil and corrupt at that time, so God used Noah’s family to start over and populate the world!

A couple of Hebrew women named Shiphrah and Puah also feared God. These women were midwives – they helped other women give birth. Their job got very serious one day when the Pharaoh ordered them to kill all baby boys. Although the Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians, the Pharaoh got worried when the Hebrews began to outnumber them. He was scared they would rebel against them, so he came up with a solution: have Puah and Shiphrah kill all the Hebrew boys when they were born. This would control their population and keep them from overthrowing him. But, these women knew it was wrong. They knew it was against their God. And, because they feared God more than they feared Pharaoh, they disobeyed Pharaoh’s command. As a result, God protected them and blessed them with families of their own.

All throughout Scripture, people made the pages of the Bible because they feared God more than they feared people. And, as a result, they obeyed God. Even when it was hard. Even when it didn’t make sense. Even when it may have hurt. And, because of this fear, God blessed them in life-changing ways!

Faith Connection

Proverbs 29:25 warns that fearing man more than fearing God is a dangerous trap for us. Fearing God opens the door to experiencing God on a deeper level in our lives. It opens the door to His blessing! The strongest way to tell if you fear God is by asking yourself these questions: How well do I obey God? Do I obey Him when it’s hard? When it hurts? When I don’t understand? Do I obey Him instantly and completely?

If you struggled with answering “yes”, now is a great time to turn back to Him and confess this struggle! Ask for Him to give you a heart that loves Him more, trusts Him more, so that that you can obey Him more. It can make all the difference in your life!

Read More About the Fear of God:

The Israelites’ fear of God in Exodus 14:29-31
King David’s fear of God in 1 Samuel 24:1-15
Daniel’s fear of God in Daniel 6

A Man Who Feared God

Once upon a time in a land called Ur, there was a man who didn’t know God. He lived in a land where the culture – and perhaps he and his family – bowed down to idols. Then, one day, God spoke to him and said, “Follow me.” God promised this man he would have as many descendants as stars in the sky (which was ironic because he and his wife couldn’t have kids). God made several promises to this man, and in order to inherit these blessings, he and his wife had to leave all that they had known and move to an unknown land. Through this man, God would establish a new people. His people.

Perhaps it was the way God spoke to him. Perhaps it was the absolute awe of God’s voice. Perhaps it was the burning in his heart when God made promises to him. Whatever it was, this man said “yes” immediately and followed God. The journey wasn’t easy. It was full of hard moments, moments in which he gave into fear and doubt that caused lifelong repercussions. But, each time he failed, he turned back to God. The journey also had amazing moments with God, moments in which God made a covenant with him, renamed him, gave him protection, and gave him financial blessing! Best of all, after 25 years of waiting, God blessed them with a baby boy. This child became their world and life seemed perfect…until one day, God asked for this man to offer his child as a sacrifice. So many questions had to have swirled around in his mind: Why, Lord? I waited 25 years for this child – why would you take him away?

And yet, this man obeyed…and the next day, he began a three day long journey to take this promised child, his son, to the mountain God commanded him to. Those questions had to have haunted him every step of this journey, along with feelings of doubt, fear, and guilt. But, he didn’t stop. When he got to the final destination, his son looked around and asked him, “Father, where is the sacrifice?”

This man, who knew the answer, uttered a reply of faith: “God will provide the sacrifice, my son.” With that, he bound his son and put him on the altar. Though his son was in his teens, or perhaps his twenties, he didn’t fight back. He didn’t struggle. Perhaps he was dumbfounded at all of this? Perhaps he still trusted his Father? Either way, he was obedient. And when his father held the knife in the air, ready to sacrifice his son, he heard a voice from the heavens saying, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me” (Genesis 22:12). In that moment, God stopped this man, named Abraham, from killing his son.

Then, God did a few things. First, He provided a ram as a sacrifice, instead of Abraham’s son. Second, this showed God that Abraham not only loved Him but also feared Him. And, because he was willing to obey God, God blessed him and his descendants.

You see, God never asked for Abraham to kill his son – that would be out of God’s character. He only asked for Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice. God wanted to see if Abraham would be willing in the extreme act. His willingness showed God his heart, and it was a heart that trusted Him. Friends, we are called to have the same heart – a heart that loved God with all we’ve all got and would trust Him enough to obey Him. Even when it’s hard. Even when it doesn’t make sense. Even when it would hurt.

And when we live this courageous faith out, we too will experience God in a deeper, more meaningful way than ever before…a way that will change our lives. Because if God did it for Abraham, He will do it for you too. It’s what he offers for all His kids.

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