What qualities of Abraham showed him to be one of Gods people?
Gen. 12:1-4, 7, 8; 14:20; 15:6; 18:17-19. In Isaiah 41:8, God speaks of Abraham as “my friend.” How did this friendship come to be? It appears that God made the first move. He came to Abraham (Gen. 12:1) and commanded him to move out of Ur and into a “land that I will show you” (RSV). The story suggests that God and Abraham entered into a gentleman’s agreement for the purpose of establishing a great nation that would bring blessing to the whole world. Abraham’s side of the friendship occasionally left much to be desired. He sometimes acted out of fear rather than principle. Yet his Friend did not forsake him. To become a friend of God requires a response to His friendship. That involves accepting His protection, His wisdom, His guidance, and His friendship. “[God] watches over us with more tenderness than does a mother over an afflicted child…. God is a friend in perplexity and affliction, a protector in distress, a preserver in the thousand dangers that are unseen to us.” Sons and D
