Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:6, NIV)

The combined simplicity and depth of this verse amazes me. We often think of God as having great expectations of us, and he does. But what we think of as great may not be God’s idea of great. God speaks to Abram, Abram believes what God says, and God says “You are a correct man!”. I know it is deeper than that, but that’s really how simple it is. Righteousness, in God’s books, has always been attributed based on childlike faith. “If I speak, and you believe, then you are righteous” – that is the Lord’s creed.

God’s promise to Abram was against the odds. It was a difficult promise from a human standpoint. But Abram was sure God could do what he said he could do. He credited God with great powers, truthfulness, and acknowledged his divine wisdom by just believing. He didn’t just hear God and walk away. He actually believed in his heart that what God said would come to pass. And God effectively said: “This man is aligned with me; I can work with him; he is good by my standards; he is a righteous man”

No man on earth is perfect by himself. Yet God has called us to perfection by the same measure with which he called us to righteousness: faith. God’s idea of righteousness is acknowledging that what He said is right and anything to the contrary is wrong. That acknowledgment manifests in the way we think, speak and live. That is why it is written that “the just shall live by his faith”. As for me, I believe God, that every word of His is true, and that what he has spoken to me will come to pass just as he said it.

Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. (Acts 27:25, NKJV)