Romans 4:4

Romans 4:4
Does God owe you anything? Have you earned a paycheck from Him that hasn't been payed up?
Abraham is upheld in the Bible as one of the holiest men who has ever lived. Certainly God has given him honors greater than those bestowed on anyone I've ever encountered. No one I've talked to has been promised descendants numbering greater than the stars in the sky or the sand on the seashore. No one I've met has had a child well into their nineties and beyond: and lived to see that child married. We can see looking backwards that Abraham was well compensated for his trust in God, but it was his faith, not his actions that earned him those rewards. Nor was it something God owed him, something he earned: Abraham's obedience was never greater than what he owed to God.
Our scale is crooked. We look at man's normal response to God, we see someone giving more, and we think that person should be praised and rewarded. Actually, the norm is inferior and that unusual person's response to God is closer to the response we should ALL be giving. Abraham wasn't giving more than God should expect from all of us: we're just too accustomed to the substandard "normal" response. God would have been within His right to receive all of Abraham's worship and faith and give nothing back in return. Abraham didn't earn his reward; it was given out of God's amazing generosity.