Looking at that photo, what are your thoughts? For most of us, the first thing that comes to mind is, “I’m sure glad that’s not me stranded on the roadside!” You might also be thinking, “I hope nobody I know ever calls me to help them in a situation like that!”
Faithfulness is a characteristic we admire in other people and often exaggerate in ourselves. We like to give the impression we are dependable and trustworthy, no matter what the situation. That’s why we say things like, “You can count on me.” Or, “If you need anything, just holler.” But when people actually do call and the help they are asking for is going to cost us in time, effort and money – that’s when we look for all sorts of reasons to back out of our offer to help and yet save face.
The truth is, being dependable and trustworthy is hard, extremely hard, and few of us are willing to put forth the sacrifice to be consistently faithful to other people when they need help. And this is our attitude towards our family and friends. When it comes to people we don’t know, we feel little if no need to practice faithfulness. How many of the great human tragedies around the world could be solved very quickly if people on one part of the planet felt a sense of faithfulness for those living on the other side of the world!
Our difficulty with being faithful to others who are going through difficult times stands in stark contrast to God’s faithfulness which we celebrate at Christmas. Without having to be asked, God committed himself to the rescue plan for all of eternity which involved the greatest sacrifice – Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. Despite human unfaithfulness, God remained 100% faithful to us by demonstrating perfect love and justice in the coming of Jesus. The result of that faithfulness was nothing short of annihilating the power of evil and death.
If you feel you’re falling short on your faithfulness to other people, join us for our worship service this Sunday. A person can’t experience the faithfulness of God without some of it rubbing off on them!
Sunday Morning Worship: 10:00 am