Abram, whom we’ll just call Abraham, obeyed God. God sees obedience as faith, and we are saved by faith. By faith, we please God, and He rejoices over calling us His children.

God is a faithful Father to His child Abraham, whom God has chosen and who has chosen Him back.

A father provides for His children and defends them. If an earthly father would do that, how much more will our perfect, heavenly Father do the same?

In today’s story, Abraham tries to save his life by telling Pharaoh that Sarah is his sister. She is his half-sister but also his wife. Pharaoh hears about this beautiful woman Sarah and takes her for a wife. God then plunders the Egyptians and gives their wealth to Abraham; Pharaoh gives Abraham all sorts of gifts in exchange for Sarah. He becomes a wealthy man, even gaining more than what He gave up to follow God on this journey of obedience.

God also protects Sarah. He inflicts Pharaoh and his household because of Sarah, and they give Sarah back to Abraham. They leave Abraham with all the stuff and send him and Sarah on their way.

This won’t be the last time God blesses His imperfect children. This won’t be the last time God protects His imperfect children. This won’t be the last time He takes from the unbeliever to give to the believer. This won’t be the last time He distinguishes between those who are His and those who are not.

Being part of God’s family has its privileges. We can’t just choose to get the blessing from God. Our status as a child of God comes after our baptism, our death to self, and after our raising to new life in Christ by the Spirit. Abraham first had to leave it all behind and walk away from self in obedience to God to follow after Him.

We don’t get the resurrected life as a child of God without first going through the cross, the suffering, the death to self: first comes the death, then comes the resurrection.