Tuesday, January 21st

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

Psalm 12:1

The word "faithful"  means having or showing true and constant support or loyalty.  King David made the statement in today's Scripture reference that godly men were not to be found and that the faithful were failing.  Certainly we can look around our society and culture and agree with that.  So, it's fair to say that not much has changed.  It's not that we don't know what faithfulness means.  Look around you...people are faithful to that which is important to them.   Someone who gets up at 5 am to go to the gym faithfully to ensure his/her body is kept in shape; the athlete who trains faithfully in football seven to eight hours a day; the musician who is faithful to practice so perform perfectly, the husband who gets up faithfully every morning to provide for his family; the student who faithfully prepares for exams in order to make passing grades...all these are examples of faithfulness.  We do, as a nation, understand the meaning of faithfulness.  However, King David was speaking of faithfulness to the Lord, and that, I'm afraid, we are sorely lacking.  When we are faithful in matters of spirituality though, here's what takes place:

1.) We please our heavenly Father.

It is His favor we should be seeking, and when we place other things---our time,       
our desires, our goals before His, we are not being faithful.  I Corinthians 4:2 is not optional.

2.) We encourage others to be faithful.

I can't tell you the number of times that I have continued on with a project or with simply joyfully serving my Savior just because I looked around and saw someone who had every reason to quit continuing on for Jesus' sake.  Your faithfulness either encourages someone else to keep going or it discourages them to the point of quitting themselves.

3.) We draw others to Christ.

When's the last time you saw someone saved through the un-faithfulness of a fellow Christian? 

More than anything else in this world, may we desire to be faithful to the Lord.

 Scripture Reading for the Day:


Proverbs 21
Hebrews 5