Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
God’s word describes faith as being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1) We should have faith in God’s word which we read in The Holy Bible. Faithfulness is one of the characteristics of God’s divine nature as is seen in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:23) Apostle Paul commended the Thessalonian Church for their work produced by faith, their labour prompted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:3) Our works have to be in keeping with faith in God’s word, worked out with godly love. The strength to do such godly work with godly love has to arise from the hope that assures us that one day He will commend His good and faithful servants and invite them to share His happiness. (Matthew 25:21)
When we are fearful or doubtful, we can’t be faithful. In the Garden of Eden, when devil cast doubts on God’s plan for Adam and Eve, they got tempted because they had doubts regarding God’s word and thus disobeyed Him. And so God banished them from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which man had been taken, but still remained faithful to mankind by sending His own Son to redeem them and to re-establish His desire to fellowship with them.
When God shared with Abraham His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their grievous sin, we read in Genesis 18, how Abraham approached the Lord and interceded for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, because he cared for his nephew, Lot. So when the two angels arrived in Sodom and found how sinful the people had become, they warned Lot to escape with his near and dear ones before the Lord destroyed that place. When Lot hesitated to flee from the coming destruction, the angels grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. So when God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, He remembered Abraham and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. (Genesis 19:29) What a faithful God!
We read in 2 Peter 2:6-9, that Lot was a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men. As Lot lived among them day after day, he was tortured in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard. God knows how to rescue godly men from trials. But sadly Lot’s wife disobeyed the instruction not to look back and thus became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26) She is remembered to this day for looking back. Jesus said, “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”(Luke 17: 30-33)
Apostle Paul wrote Timothy a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him, we will also live with him;
If we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
(2nd Timothy 2:11-13)
God will remain faithful to His words, for He is not a man to lie. As our Lord’s return is very near, let us examine our lives to see if we have died with Him or if we are living in our sinful nature. If we do not abide in Him and if His words do not abide in us, we will be left behind. He is coming back for His Church. Are we ready to meet Him or are we like the people in Lot’s time-eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, not willing to heed the warning to prepare ourselves for the day the Son of Man is revealed? (Luke 17: 28) Let us be faithful to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and obey Him. Let us have faith in God and His word. May God’s grace keep us from following the corrupt desires of our sinful nature and from despising authority!
Share this Post
