Faithfulness

There is a lot to be said about faithfulness. The fruits and evidences of faithfulness can be seen and appreciated in many different ways, however, the greatest results and rewards of faithfulness to an individual is that of the unseen. What I mean by that is this...

Think back to a time in which you invested so much of your self; your time, energy, and emotion into something, or someone? For some this might be a touchy and bitter subject as this project, or person, resulted in letdown and pain. However, for those that have the memory in mind of a time in which the project, or the person was seen through to its end result or even restoration, the satisfaction and assurance that greatness (whether others would see it that way or not) within yourself is overwhelming.

This is very much at the heart of the admonition scripture raises to "store up for yourselves treasure(s) in heaven." It is in the moments of faithfulness to your faith, to your God, your savior, to your fallen and dismayed friends that the greatest of treasure and eternal wealth is credited to you.

Consider Jonathan and David. Their friendship was life saving, and for Jonathan, in many regards, life taking. The bible says that these two men's souls were knit together. That is a faithful friendship. Jonathan saved Davids life, despite the ostracizing it meant within his fathers own courts. And in some respect, Jonathan's faithfulness to David cost him his own life; within the royal courts (he yielded his rightful throne to God's anointed) and in the fields where he lost his physical life. As a result of this faithful friendship David was able to take the throne and become Israel's greatest king. As a result of this faithful friendship David was able to show his nation the mercy and kindness of the true king they served, if you don't agree, ask Mephibosheth.

Then there is Paul. Upon his conversion he was so zealous to preach the very man that he once persecuted yet his ministry was a complete disaster! It wasn't the fact that the good'ol boys were skeptical of his conversion, his ministry was just a flop. Paul wanted so badly to preach Jesus to his fellow Jews and the life and liberty that is found with Christ, but they couldn't see past the once vicious Christian killer. Paul was literally ostracized and spent some three years in the dessert only to return and attempt ministry again that would end in yet another outcast of obscurity taking him to Damascus for another period lasting seven to ten years! That's ten to thirteen years of unbridled, unfruitful, unproductive fervor for Jesus! To be fair, and more importantly honest, which one of us would not have been like Peter and returned to our former occupation, or just given up all together and forgotten this whole "Christian" thing? It was Paul's unwavering faithfulness to Jesus Christ that yielded to the Spirit and it was by the Spirit that Paul would become the greatest preacher this world has known! And yet, his ministry, as great as it was, was still not what he had hoped. In his letter to the Romans, he penned the cry that he himself would rather be cast out and lose his salvation for his fellow Jews to be saved. That is faithfulness--SELFLESSNESS!

Jesus was faithful to His father, crying for "any other way." His faithfulness was marked and defined by His selflessness which was and is to the benefit of all those who do and are to call on His name. The gospel is not a self-help manual. The gospel is not meant to cause warm fuzzy feelings for an individual to float through life. The gospel is not about thinking about yourself at all. The gospel is defined by faith.

There is a lot to say about faithfulness!