Walking With Jesus (Perseverance)Sample

The true faithfulness

The word for “to resign” is hupestello which means to withdraw. Abraham is an example of a man who did not back down from his faith, even though he faced great challenges. He must go through trial after trial. Abraham had to wait for the birth of his son after he became old and his wife was no longer able to conceive. He must offer his only son as a burnt offering. Abraham did not find the land until his death. Even though he could only watch the land from afar, he never wanted to return to Ur-Chaldean (Hebrews 11:13-16). Abraham's faith was not only tested once when he had to sacrifice his son. Throughout his life, Abraham had to experience the test of faith but was proven to be faithful.

Abraham's faithfulness is a true faithfulness based on faith. True faithfulness is not motivated by physical blessings. Today, many people still think that they deserve God's blessing when they are faithful. They will be disappointed and angry when God does not bless them in exchange for their faithfulness. He will resign and even stop being faithful because faithfulness is their motive for following God. This is a sad thing. 

We could not bribe God with our faithfulness. God uses everything that happens in our daily lives to build and test our faithfulness to Him. The process of building and testing will continue until we are called home by the Lord. It is easy for Him to bless us. However, what He cares more about is how we grow in our faithfulness to Him.

Therefore, do not back down when life becomes difficult for us to live. Do not withdraw from the path of living with God no matter how difficult the path we have to go. Let us not hope that this mortal world will be better. The world will perish. And when that happens, it's our faithfulness that matters.

Reflection:

1. What is the motivation of your faithfulness to the Lord?

2. How can you remain faithful to God under unfavorable conditions?

Application: 

When things are bad, learn to stay faithful.