What do you think of when you hear the word “faithful”?  Here’s some insight:

—Steadfast— An old word meaning “not moving; not going anywhere; not changing or flaking out no matter what”

—Committed— Sticking with it; sticking with the group; loyal; all-in

—Trustworthy— Can be trusted to do what they say they’re going to do and/or what someone asks them to.  Keeps their promises.

For example, when I was little, my older sister had a boyfriend, who our family nicknamed “Steady Eddie”.  This guy was as faithful as they come.  Whenever my sister needed a date, he was there.  If she ever had a problem or felt sad, she could always call on “Steady Eddie”, and he’d always answer and support her.  He’d do anything he could for her and never backed out or reneged on his promises. 

People like that are hard to find. But thankfully we have Someone who’s even more faithful than “Steady Eddie”—our steady and unchanging LORD!

Scripture refers to Him as “faithful”, or “His faithfulness 36 times. Ps. 89 alone mentions it 5 times!  Plus, ALL of Scripture proves His faithfulness by Who He is and what He’s done.  Here are some good examples:

Deut. 7:9— Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful   God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…

Ps. 36:5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.

Ps. 89:5— The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
    your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

Is. 25:1-2 O Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
    for you have done wonderful things,
    plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

Lam. 3:22-23–The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
      they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

1 Thes. 5:24— He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

1 Tim. 2:13— if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot   deny himself.

1 Jn. 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That’s a HEAP of faithfulness, which we can’t just leave unnoticed or remain indifferent about!  We need to RESPOND to that– in four major ways:

1) Thankfulness—praise the Lord and develop a grateful heart—This helps us stay true and faithful to Him.  It also helps us eradicate discontentment, lack of trust in Him, and/or having idols (putting other stuff first in our lives).

That’s why Ps. 92:1-2 declares:

    It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
    to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
      to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
    and your faithfulness by night…

2) Responsibility— Do you wanted to be trusted with more of whatever is truly valuable? If so, demonstrate responsibility in even the smallest assignments and taking good care of even the smallest things.  This shows the kind of faithfulness that the Lord and others look for when deciding how much they can trust us with. 

 “Those who are faithful in little will be faithful with much.” (therefore   they can be trusted with much). Lk. 16:10

What is the Lord asking you to do right now that you can show yourself faithful in, in response to His faithfulness?

3) Sharing—Share the Lord’s love, goodness, and faithfulness with others—don’t keep it a secret! Demonstrate it, then tell people where it all comes from! Would you keep the best deal you know of a secret, or be ashamed to tell where you got it?

Ps. 40:10— I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
    I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
    I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
    from the great congregation.

Ps. 89:1-2— I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
    with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
    through all generations.
    I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
    that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

4) Right Choices— Choose to serve Him, based on His worth, greatness, and character.  

Before he died, Joshua exhorted all Israel to “…choose this day who you will serve…” Josh. 24:15

This applies in two ways– There’s our original choice to give our lives to the Lord and serve Him; and then we have to keep choosing that daily—every day, in every situation and decision!

How?  Stay tuned for the next blog post(!)

Meanwhile, choose now to respond faithfully to the Lord’s faithfulness— through thankfulness, responsibility, sharing, and right choices.