Steven Curtis Chapman sings “My redeemer is faithful and true. Everything He has said He will do.” What marvelous assurance! There is an old saying “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” But you know what? It doesn’t matter if we believe it or not. God said it. That settles it. Period. End of discussion. In a past blog we have discussed finishing well. (https://wonderfullyplagued.com/2020/09/04/finishing-well/). With Jesus, we don’t have to worry about that. If we are faithful, we will finish well. We also previously discussed the concept of faith, where we saw Hebrews 11:6 says “Without faith we cannot please God.” (https://wonderfullyplagued.com/2020/09/28/a-leap-of-faith/).
Being faithful is a two-way street. God is faithful to us, we are faithful to God. Faithfulness is a characteristic of God that reflects His ethical nature. He is constant in His relations with us. God is faithful and true and is worthy of our trust. God made a promise, a covenant, to Abram. Despite the unfaithfulness of the Isralite people, God remained faithful. In the New Testament we read that God’s faithfulness, as well as His righteousness, is manifested in the forgiveness of sin (I John 1:9).
On our side of this street, being faithful involves us living out our faith. There is a point in time when we proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ. Being faithful is a never-ending process in which we live out our faith. If you ask people, many will state that they are Christian. In a number of these cases, what they are really saying is that I used to go to church, I was baptized as a child, and so on. But I don’t go to church now. God is not really a part of their lives now. I am not one to judge but if we have faith we will want to please God. If he is not in our lives, if we are not faithful, I wonder if they really are Christian.
Faithfulness is living to please God. It involves more than our relationship with Him, however. A faithful life will impact our relations with others. The way to a faithful life can be keeping a promise, paying our debts on time, being honest in act and motive. Watch your words – don’t exaggerate or gossip.
God has promised what is called an afterlife for us. But you know what? If we know Jesus, it’s not an afterlife – it’s a great beginning of a new life. We will awake in a world so wondrously better than this one. We have never really been at our best, our best we will be when in heaven. And it will be forever. For the redeemed, eternity starts now. And because He is faithful and true, we can trust that this will come to be for us.
When I was very young, I would hear sales pitches that included the language “This is a temporary offer.” In my young mind, I thought everything is temporary, nothing lasts forever. But one thing is forever – God’s promise that he will prepare a place for us. This world is temporary. Heaven is forever. Count on it – God is faithful and true.
Wonderfully Plagued 