Gathering Rubies

What is it and what does it look like?

Faithfulness is in all aspects of our lives, not only in serving God. We are to be faithful to our spouses, our children, our friends and family, our bosses.

Unfaithfulness comes when we are more interested in what is important to ourselves. Ouch!  Now that hurts a little doesn’t it? Being faithful to our spouse doesn’t only mean sexual faithfulness. It means sacrifice and commitment. It means “for better or for worse”.

We are faithful to what we are persuaded is really important. That can be good or it can be dangerous. Look around, you will quickly see what we are really committed to and it will show in our lives, despite the consequences, if it is for good or for bad. Would you agree with me then that it’s important to take a look at our motives and our actions regarding faithfulness?

Faithfulness to our spouse means love, loyalty, commitment, trust, and honesty. (Partial examples)
Faithfulness as a parent means living by example, giving love and discipline.
Faithfulness as a friend and member of a family means being loyal and trustworthy.
Faithfulness as an employee means honesty and commitment.

The following is from an article by J. Hampton Keathley, III

Moses was called to be faithful to God and to fulfill his commission. He was not called to “succeed” or to “fail.” And so the New Testament commendation of Moses focuses not on what Moses accomplished, but on his faithfulness. “Moses…faithfully discharged his duty in the household of God” (Heb. 3:2, ph). It was Moses’ faithfulness to his task which counted with God all along.¹²⁷ (emphasis mine)

Faithfulness, then, is not a matter of success or failure from the standpoint of results. If there is faithfulness, failure does not bring blame nor should it lead to a sense of guilt! Where there is faithfulness to discharge one duties regardless of the results there is success in God’s sight. This points us to the true issue in our responsibility which is limited. We are to be faithful to the gifts, abilities, and opportunities God gives us and leave the results to Him.

Mark Hatfield tells of touring Calcutta with Mother Teresa and visiting the so-called “House of Dying,” where sick children are cared for in their last days, and the dispensary, where the poor line up by the hundreds to receive medical attention. Watching Mother Teresa minister to these people, feeding and nursing those left by others to die, Hatfield was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the suffering she and her co-workers face daily. “How can you bear the load without being crushed by it?” he asked. Mother Teresa replied, “My dear Senator, I am not called to be successful, I am called to be faithful.”¹²⁸

Paul stresses this point in 1 Cor. 3:5-8. What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us. I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters counts for anything, but God who causes things to grow.

Faithfulness, then, is a quality that God wants to reproduce in us through the salvation that comes in Christ. It is another of the qualities of maturity to be sought in the life of the Christian. (End of excerpt by Hampton Keathley, III)

All of this gave me a lot to think about, for me, self-examination is essential.

Finally I will close with these thoughts from an article by John W. Ritenbaugh

Faithful implies steadfast adherence to a person or thing to which one is bound as by an oath or obligation; loyal implies undeviating allegiance to a person, cause, institution, etc. which one feels morally bound to support or defend; constant suggests freedom from fickleness in affections or loyalties; staunch implies such a strong allegiance to one’s principles or purposes as not to be turned aside by any cause; resolute stresses unwavering determination, often in adhering to one’s personal ends or aims.

Faithless means “not keeping faith; dishonest; disloyal; unreliable; undependable; unbelieving.” Its synonyms include doubting, treacherous and unscrupulous.

 Other synonyms include dedicated, steadfast, devoted, dependable, accurate, true, conscientious, dutiful, careful, scrupulous and thorough.

Have you ever described someone as being reliable, dependable, loyal or faithful? To describe someone like this is a compliment, or at least it should be when used in a positive way. Faithfulness could be negative, for example you could say “you can be sure, he will be drunk everyday by four o’clock”. That is being faithful; certainly not in a good way though.

God is faithful, reliable and dependable. Look at these verses describing his faithfulness to us.

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Ex 34:6-7

 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
Ps 36:5

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.  Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.  The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Ps 85:10-12

Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens. Ps 89:2

O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you. Ps 89:8

 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Ps 91:4

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Ps 100:5

Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. Isa 25:1

The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.
1 Sam 26:23

Jesus is our faithful high priest. Heb 2:17 When we are tempted, God is faithful not to let the temptation be more than we can bear; and when we are tempted he will provide a way out so we can stand up under it. 1Cor 10:13

God expects us to be faithful to him, to our spouses, to our employers, and to each other. This is not from us; it is the fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Ps 31:23-24 Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.  Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

We know God is faithful and for us to be faithful to him we must trust him even when we can’t see that light at the end of the tunnel.

 I need these reminders. Everyday is filled with distractions from all directions and if I don’t keep the Word in my heart at all times I know I will end up on the wrong path. I want to be one of the ones the Lord preserves.

I enjoy cooking and baking, Being married at such an early age I had to learn the “hands on” way. I threw many dishes out because they tasted so awful they were inedible. We had to eat so I couldn’t just give up.

After many failures came more and more successes and over the years I guess I have obtained “bragging rights”. Through trial and error I discovered the secrets of seasoning, correct temperatures, blending, folding, pinches of this and dashes of that.  I learned by remaining faithful to the task.

When I decided to follow Jesus, I often felt like giving up. I had so many rough spots, bad habits, failures and slip-ups that I just didn’t think I could ever be what God wanted me to be. I understand now that in the same way my cooking went from inedible to edible, that my growing as a Christian has left the baby stages to a more mature stage. I’m not complete by any means, but I have left milk and pabulum and am now eating meat. I have left the crawling and walking stages and am now running the race.

I look back at accomplishments in my life and marvel at the changes that faithfulness has accomplished and it is a complete feeling of thankfulness and praise to God. I must remember though, I’m not finished running the race.

I am thinking about God’s faithfulness this morning and how he is always dependable, always loyal.

2 Tim 2:11-13 If we die with him, we’ll live with him;  If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us;  If we give up on him, he does not give up — for there’s no way he can be false to himself. (The Message)

His faithfulness will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. 1 Cor 10:13

 Because of his faithfulness he always keeps his word. Heb 10:23 This encourages us to remember his promises.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins. 1 Jn 1:9

He is faithful to His children because He is first of all faithful to Himself (2 Tim 2:13).

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” Lam 3:22-24

Is this not awesome? His mercies begin again each morning!

I will leave you with these thoughts and encouraging remarks from
2 Peter 1:5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. (The Message)

Remain faithful!