After all the waiting and the mistakes, God came to Abraham again — this time with a deeper call. Not just to believe the promise, but to be marked by it.
Genesis 17:11 says, “And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.”
This wasn’t a small ask. Circumcision was personal. Painful. Private. It separated Abraham and his people from everyone else. It was God’s way of saying, “You’re Mine now — and I want your whole life, not just your words.”
Faith isn’t just something we think or feel — it shows up in how we obey. Abraham didn’t argue. He didn’t delay. He obeyed immediately, even when it wasn’t easy. That’s the kind of obedience that marks a true believer.
In the New Testament, Paul explains what this means for Christians.
Colossians 2:11 says,
“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.”
Today, God isn’t asking us to be marked on the outside — He wants our hearts. He wants our lives set apart. He wants us to put off the old ways and live like people who belong to Him.
There are some things God will ask you to do that won’t make sense to the world. They might cost you friends, comfort, or popularity. But when you truly belong to Him, obedience isn’t a burden — it’s a mark of love.
Jesus lived this perfectly.
Philippians 2:8 says,
“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
He didn’t just do the easy things. He obeyed the Father all the way to the cross. And because of that, we are saved, sealed, and set apart.
The question isn’t just, “Do I believe God?” but, “Am I obeying Him?”
Real faith says yes to God — even when it hurts, even when it’s humbling, and even when no one else understands. Faith is easy when everything is going right.
Abraham wasn’t without fault. But in this moment, he showed us what it looks like to walk by faith: a heart that trusts and a life that obeys.
