God tells an elderly Abram that not only will he have an heir from his own blood but his legacy will be as countless as the stars in the sky. A hard thing to believe. But Abram does just that and God credits him with righteousness, just like an accounting entry. Just because Abram believed. Without him having to do anything else.

One of the reasons this story and this verse appear in the early Biblical writings is because this is the foundation of man’s relationship with God. Faith.

Righteousness can only be credited by God. And faith is all we can do to gain credit with God. This is the relationship between God and man. We have the incredible opportunity to believe Him, to trust Him, to follow Him, and to take Him at His Word. It’s all we can do toward God. That’s all He asks from us.

Just believe, and the Lord credits our account with righteousness. He calls us favored, His, set-apart, participants in His family and His Kingdom.

Our flesh tempts us to believe we control the accounting process. Society tells us to trust ourselves, to get the credit through what we do. To focus on what we see.

Through the kaleidoscope of voices swirling in our ears, there is one unavoidable choice we must make. Will we lean on our faith? Or will we perform to try to gain His acceptance? Will we believe He is the Great I Am, who has granted us His grace? Or will we treat Him like an idol we can manipulate with our parlor tricks?

God’s love and acceptance is an amazing gift. How will your account be credited today?

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
– Genesis 15:6