"Father Abraham"

Abraham, the Bible says,

Has become my Dad,

And not because I’m Jewish,

Or the lineage that I’ve had.

It’s not because my human blood,

Traces back to him,

Or that my life is kosher,

And shows that I’m his kin.

No, none of these reasons,

Pertain to me at all,

But because of Someone’s blood,

And how on Him I called.

The promise made to Abraham,

If he could count each star,

That’s how many children,

That he’d have near and far.

That all the grains of sandy beach,

That huge number see,

And that’s how many offspring,

One day would come to be.

For God had chosen Abraham,

And through the son He gave,

Would come first a family,

And then a tribe so brave.

And from that tribe a nation,

And from them one man,

Who would die a sacrifice,

According to God’s plan.

And that man is Jesus,

Whose blood was shed for me,

And when I called upon Him,

He saved me, don’t you see.

And once again the promise,

First made to Abraham,

Fulfilled when I was added,

To all those grains of sand.

So now God is my Father,

And Abe’s my Daddy, too,

I think it’s good to tell it,

So the promise comes to you.

“The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God…” (Galatians 3:7, NLT)

The thought that a Jew could be kin to a Gentile was totally foreign to those who first heard it, both Jew and Gentile alike. Jews thought the Gentiles unclean and the Gentiles thought the Jews were fools to worship one God who was unseen. But God’s promise to Abraham was exactly about bringing all people together in a forever family through Jesus Christ. We live in a very divided world. The only real hope of unity is when we receive what God has promised in Jesus Christ and allow Him to unite us with others. We will then be empowered to love those who share our faith and even those who don’t. Kinship with people of faith, even if we don’t agree on every point of doctrine is a beautiful, supernatural, Spirit-inspired reality. The world needs it. The world needs to see it in us.

Lord, may Your love unite us with others, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Jason Rich, jasonrichstudios.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Jason, and God bless you.