“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21
It seems that faithfulness and respect have almost become obsolete in our ever changing world. Marriages fail, friendships flounder, bosses misuse employees and employees are unreliable, careless and some even seem ungrateful to have the privilege of employment. So why does this bother me? Because where there is a lack of faithfulness things go wrong and people get hurt.
God's desire for his people is that they become like Him, whose very nature is faithfulness. The Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God... (Deuteronomy 7:9) The word 'faithful' appears more than 80 times in the New Testament. Many of those times it refers to faithful people, or the need to be faithful.
Faithfulness is a great character trait. When I began to write here, I wrote that "we should" aim to become faithful people. There is nothing wrong with that thought except for the words "we should". It is too easy for us to strive to be the best we can for God but that puts us into a "works mode". We start trying to be something which often leads to disappointment and frustration. Doesn't scripture say "For it is God who works in us both do will and to do his good pleasure"? Philippians 2:13. Does a child mean to grow up to be like their parent (for good or bad)? Not usually, it just happens, because of DNA and association.
When we become 'alive to God' we receive his DNA. Then as we start "associating" with Him by reading His word, getting to know how He thinks, praying and spending time with Him we will naturally become like Him. In John 15:4 Jesus talks about the vine and the branches. He states categorically that it is impossible to bear (spiritual) fruit unless we remain or abide in Him (the vine). In verse 5 he says again, "apart from me you can do nothing." That takes the heat of us, right?
We know that an apple is the natural product of being part of an apple tree, just as the grapes are natural fruit of the vine. All that is needed is for the sap to flow into the branch and, in due course, fruit happens. The timing is in God's hands as we yield ourselves to Him to work in us but we can aim to be faithful in abiding in Him and seeking to please Him in how we live. If we are not becoming more like Him there is probably a need for more abiding, not striving!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to understand what it means to remain in you so that faithfulness becomes a part of who I am and through that I can bring glory and pleasure to you. Amen
When we become 'alive to God' we receive his DNA. Then as we start "associating" with Him by reading His word, getting to know how He thinks, praying and spending time with Him we will naturally become like Him. In John 15:4 Jesus talks about the vine and the branches. He states categorically that it is impossible to bear (spiritual) fruit unless we remain or abide in Him (the vine). In verse 5 he says again, "apart from me you can do nothing." That takes the heat of us, right?
We know that an apple is the natural product of being part of an apple tree, just as the grapes are natural fruit of the vine. All that is needed is for the sap to flow into the branch and, in due course, fruit happens. The timing is in God's hands as we yield ourselves to Him to work in us but we can aim to be faithful in abiding in Him and seeking to please Him in how we live. If we are not becoming more like Him there is probably a need for more abiding, not striving!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to understand what it means to remain in you so that faithfulness becomes a part of who I am and through that I can bring glory and pleasure to you. Amen
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