Faith that Passes On

Is there someone in your life whom you treasure for helping you during the early days of your faith? How did that person add to you? What kind of impact did he or she make in your life?

As we reflect upon these questions, we would be reminded of how grateful we are to this person pouring out his or her life and teaching us. Perhaps we may even realise that we have come to where we are today in Christ because we received this individual’s godly love and guidance.

In today’s passage, we see how Abraham became a model of faith to his son Isaac by obeying God’s instructions to sacrifice him. Without a doubt, this is difficult reading from our modern perspectives. At its heart, the passage describes how Abraham trusted in God’s promise of the next generations coming through Isaac. He had faith that God would make a way for Isaac to live. Indeed, Isaac was not sacrificed as God would provide a ram (Genesis 22:13-14).

The Bible records that Abraham’s descendants (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph) would come to display the same pattern of faith in God. While each generation was tested in different ways, they responded in faith, likely inspiring the next generation.

While faith technically cannot be inherited, we can see how a life that models faith influences the next generation. For the Patriarchs, the faith of Abraham eventually led to the formation of the nation of Israel, who became the blessed people of God.

For the parents among us, the best thing we can do for the young lives entrusted to us goes beyond meeting their physical and emotional needs. Rather, the most precious gift we can pass on is to model a life of faith, with the hope that one day our children will also choose to worship the Lord.

For all of us, take heart that God has placed us exactly where He wants us to be, to influence those around us as we live out our faith. Just as we have grown from the people who guided us in our Christian formative years, we can do the same for someone else by mentoring or discipling him or her. Living a life of faith consists of responding to God personally and passing it on.