Righteousness On Credit 

[Read Genesis Chapter 15]

 My family and I live in Minnesota. The temperature at our home last week when I began writing this was –17 below zero. We have a furnace that heats our home which runs on propane. Before the heating season came this year, we purchased propane credit from our gas company. We do this for two reasons: the first is in case the cost of propane increases in the winter. And the second, is in case my work load decreases and I don’t have enough funds in the bank.

Our propane tank was low last week, but I was not worried. I called last Friday and asked for a delivery to be made this week. We still have plenty of credits with the company so a tank fill will cost me nothing extra.

Pretend that someone last June approached me and told me they would buy a year’s worth of propane credits. Let’s say the person was someone I knew to be upright, honorable, and trustworthy. Would I have any reason to fear a cold winter? No. My only responsibility would be to habitually check the propane level in my tank, and call the company when I needed a fill. Oh, the other thing I would need is to exercise faith in the one who purchased the propane for me. If the person told me they purchased propane for me, I would prove my faith by making a phone call to the propane company. If I never made the call, it would evidence that I did not trust the person. True faith works.

The Lord has chosen to set his unconditional love upon Abraham. He tells him that he will be the father of a great nation and will give land and blessing to them. There appears no tangible evidence that this could be true because Abraham is still without a son of his own. Yet Abraham has God. Abraham believes God and it is credited to him as righteousness. Abraham is gifted righteousness on credit. He only has to act upon his faith to prove his trust in the One who purchased the credit at Calvary.