The Weekly Word: God is truly faithful

By the Rev. Daniel Larson, Pastor, Cross Lutheran Church, Charles City

To finish your crossword puzzle, you need a three-letter word for “faithful.” You immediately write in the word “dog.” After all, what could be more faithful than “man’s best friend,” right? However, you then realize that you have the word backwards. The correct word should be “God.”

Is there anything or anybody that is truly faithful nowadays? Spouses are unfaithful to their partners; bosses are faithless to their employees; employees show little loyalty or faithfulness to their company of employment.

Even some dogs are not always faithful to their masters, are they? So, is anyone ever completely faithful to their word?

In addition, we are all unfaithful to God. We are easily tempted away from Him and follow our own sinful desires and ideas instead.

Thankfully, God is not like this. The Bible tells us, “God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

How do we know God is always faithful? His faithfulness can be seen by His daily preservation of this world in which we live. He causes the grass, trees and other vegetation to bud, grow and flourish. He sends both rain and sunshine. He provides us with the means to feed all the people of this world.

Even when so many in this world reject and dismiss God, He continues to care for all of His creation. And He does all this even without us asking for it!

God is faithful. He is faithful to His promise: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22).

The faithfulness of God is really at the heart of our life and salvation. His faithfulness even promises us freedom from death through Christ’s resurrection from the dead.

Through the perfect, righteous and complete redemptive work of His Son, God has shown just how faithful He is to us. In this way, Jesus has become our faithful Savior. Jesus is the only one who was completely faithful to God. This is why God said to Him, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22).

Can God ever be pleased with our faithfulness? He can through Jesus! Jesus is the answer to our faithfulness. His Spirit brings such faithfulness into our hearts through the message of the Gospel. And this is the message: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

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We would be pleased to have you worship with us at Cross Lutheran Church every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Here you can learn more about God’s faithfulness to you and your faithfulness to God!