He Is Faithful

COMMENTS

I was thinking this morning about how faithful our God is.  My mind went back to the Old Testament stories about God and His people, the Israelites—to how faithful He was to them and how unfaithful they were to Him.

NOTES

If you know the history of the Israelite people, you know that God called them out for Himself.  He blessed them, took care of them, and gave them a land of their own.  In spite of this, they continually chased after other gods; ironically, the gods of their enemies.  Finally, after years of slavery, they stopped worshipping the foreign gods.  However, fallen human beings can never “stay on track”; and at that point instead of continuing to worship their God, they began to worship their religion.  They worshipped the law that had been given to show them that they were incapable of keeping it.  Though they were unable to obey God’s law, they added more to it.  They worshipped the temple, God’s dwelling place, instead of the One who dwelled there.  Even after He withdrew His Spirit, they continued to worship the building.  Their unfaithfulness is just astounding!

What’s that old saying?  When I point at you, I have three fingers pointing back at me.  That’s very applicable here.  Are we—am I—any different?  My pride tells me I am; but how many times a day do I disappoint my Savior?  How easy it is for my motives and my actions to fall away from Christ’s purity.  I’m selfish; and if I don’t stay in touch with my God, I think the world revolves around me.

In a posting I made just before Thanksgiving, I noted that Thanksgiving is becoming a “non-holiday”—or as a friend of mine stated, it’s “in danger of being black-Friday eve”.  Easter is the Easter bunny and “spring-fashion Sunday”.  Christmas is decorations, parties, presents, food, and family.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with getting some new clothes.  There’s nothing wrong with making the house look beautiful, with enjoying good food, or with celebrating with family and friends.  Those are good things.  But let’s remember WHY we’re celebrating!

As we go through this Christmas season, I challenge each of us to remember how faithful our Lord is to us.  Let us not worship the tree or the presents or even our time together.  Let’s worship the One born to save us—the One who gave us a reason to celebrate.