Lessons on Faithfulness - I Chronicles 22-24 and John 8:28-59
David could not build the Temple for the Lord, but he was faithful to prepare the materials and to get the tribe of Levi organized for the worship in the Temple. He could have left all of these things to his son, Solomon, but he didn't. He was faithful to do all that he could to serve the Lord. His faithfulness was to be as responsible as possible to see that God's will was done and that God's worship was carried out in the right way. I am sure that David's faithfulness in these areas were a great blessing to Solomon and to all of the people. How is your faithfulness? Do you do the minimum that is required of you? Do you do what you need to do for yourself and maybe your family, but you don't have time to help others? I believe that is one way we fail the Lord, today. We are too self-centered and too time conscious. We do not make good preparations for the things of the Lord, and we do not help each other as we should. I believe it is a matter of unfaithfulness to God. If we listen to God and obey Him, He will lead us to be faithful in these areas like David was.
The Jewish leaders thought they were being faithful to God. They were deceiving themselves, because they knew a lot about the Old Testament. However, they were not faithful to abide in God's Word. They were not living by faith in God. They were living by their own rules and standards. They prided themselves on being descendants of Abraham, but they did not have the faith of Abraham. Jesus told them that the faith was the important thing. Their lives were so far from the life of Abraham, because he lived a life of faithfulness to God, and they did not. They were focusing on rituals and genealogies, but not on being faithful. How about you? Is your faith personal, or do you claim to be a Christian because your parents were Christians? Do you show the character quality of being faithful to the Lord, or is it just a religion of outward works to you? This is a real problem. Yesterday, I met a man who told me he went to church for 37 years after he joined the church before he really came to know Christ. He was raised in church. He joined the church at 12, but it was not until age 49 that he trusted Christ. All those 37 years, he was not living a life of faithfulness, but a life of dead works like the Jewish leaders. Do not let that happen to you. If your life is not characterized by faithfulness to Jesus, you are not one of His children any more than the Jewish leaders were children of Abraham.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Chronicles 25-27 and John 9:1-23.
The Jewish leaders thought they were being faithful to God. They were deceiving themselves, because they knew a lot about the Old Testament. However, they were not faithful to abide in God's Word. They were not living by faith in God. They were living by their own rules and standards. They prided themselves on being descendants of Abraham, but they did not have the faith of Abraham. Jesus told them that the faith was the important thing. Their lives were so far from the life of Abraham, because he lived a life of faithfulness to God, and they did not. They were focusing on rituals and genealogies, but not on being faithful. How about you? Is your faith personal, or do you claim to be a Christian because your parents were Christians? Do you show the character quality of being faithful to the Lord, or is it just a religion of outward works to you? This is a real problem. Yesterday, I met a man who told me he went to church for 37 years after he joined the church before he really came to know Christ. He was raised in church. He joined the church at 12, but it was not until age 49 that he trusted Christ. All those 37 years, he was not living a life of faithfulness, but a life of dead works like the Jewish leaders. Do not let that happen to you. If your life is not characterized by faithfulness to Jesus, you are not one of His children any more than the Jewish leaders were children of Abraham.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Chronicles 25-27 and John 9:1-23.