“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” Isaiah 25:1

For someone to be considered a faithful person, there are only a couple of criteria.

• You have to say you’re going to do something.
• Then you have to do it.

We can easily mistake the simplicity of faithfulness with ease, quickly categorizing ourselves as faithful people because of trivial promises made and kept. Upon further examination, however, our kept promises are suspended in the air by the heavy weight of the engagements that just faded away.

It’s not necessarily a matter of ignoring or neglecting something you said you were going to do. It could be the case that something outside of your control made it impossible. Whatever the cause may be, it should be evident to us that while faithfulness is simple in its definition, faithfulness is wildly complicated for us to live out.

If you’re a human being, chances are you’ve been let down. Somebody you care about tells you something, but it doesn’t work out. You ache for the day it will occur sitting in frustration as time passes with one half of the faithfulness formula completed. We’ve all got our stories about these situations.

The chances are equally as high that if you’ve been let down, you’ve also been guilty of letting someone down. This is the side we don’t like to chat about as much. It shows that we are guilty of the same thing we hold against the one who proved faithless. While you stand pointing the finger, you’ve got three fingers pointing back at you. Zoom out and all 7.53+ billion people on this earth are pointing at one another guilty of faithlessness.

We desperately need dependability and trust. That’s why it hurts so bad when we don’t receive it.

It’s when we affirm this that we are then made ready to hear of one who is described as abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

We as humans can make faithful decisions, but at the core there is only one perfectly faithful being. He’s the one who’s faithfulness endures for all generations. It’s part of the essence of His being. He is Jehovah, God of Israel and the author of the Bible.

It is said that it is impossible for Him to lie. That what He started He will complete. Faithfulness is not simply a mushy, purely emotional theological term. It’s more along the lines of a legal track record measuring every “contract” ever signed into existence by His speech.

When God says that something is going to happen in scripture, this is equivalent to the gliding of a ballpoint pen along the doted line of a binding contract. He is entering into what is called a “covenant” or agreement. He is essentially, completing the first half of the faithfulness formula.

A lot of people claim things. All religions are built on truth claims. But what makes one true over another? What makes this binding agreement signed worth anything?

The result. Truth can never be faked and will always come to the light. You can pretty much Google any theory you want and there will likely be some sort of article affirming whatever it is you want to believe. Some may say the same of Christianity.

Yet when we examine the Bible against other historical accounts and archaeology, we see that what God said, did occur. Most importantly, we see that the life of Jesus Christ was one cut short by a brutal Roman execution, only to rise again and appear publicly to hundreds of people – verified by texts both within scripture and outside of scripture. This is just as God had prophesied throughout the Old Testament of the Bible in His plan to offer forgiveness for you and me.

It’s this promise that stands out the most on the lengthy list of God’s kept promises. For by it, we are offered what each of us most desperately need! Salvation from God through God.

Our faithfulness is spotty at best. God’s got a perfect track record. One that we can study and learn more about each day. Here’s for grace to trust Him more. Here’s to worship the only one who’s ever mastered the faithfulness formula.

 

References:

Psalm 86:15 – “…abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Psalm 119:90 – “Your faithfulness endures to all generations…”

Hebrews 6:18 – “…It is impossible for God to lie….”

Philippians 1:6 – “…He who started a good work in you will carry it onto completion…”

Matthew 27: 32-56 – The crucifixion of Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:6 – Jesus appeared to over 500 people after rising from the dead.

(Non-Biblical) Antiquities 18:63 of Josephus – “…for he appeared to them on the third day restored to life.”