We would all like to be recognized for something. Some would like be known for their talent, others their success, and maybe others for the number of friends but there is one area where anyone can be recognized no matter what level of skill, talent or opportunity you have, although very few achieve this recognition.
Proverbs 20:6 (ESV) — 6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?
Notice what the Scripture is saying that faithfulness is quite an admirable trait because it is really so hard to find. It doesn’t take great skill to be a faithful husband, church member, or employee but it does take focus and discipline. We are reminded by Jesus that everything we have in life is really His so we are to be good stewards of all that He has placed in our lives. Remember the parable of the talents and the words to the faithful stewards?
Matthew 25:23 (ESV) — 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Jesus taught that being faithful in serving Him is actually the way to increase your faith as faith and faithfulness go hand in hand.
Luke 17:5–10 (ESV) — 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
No wonder then, we are reminded of what God expects in our service and our tending to all with which He has entrusted us is to be faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:2 (ESV) — 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
Going back to the question from Proverbs, “… a faithful man, who can find?” let’s look at a few and some characteristics we might follow.
We are first reminded of Abraham who was called a man of faith or “faithful Abraham.” Abraham was far from perfect but He believed God and faithfully followed where God directed him.
Galatians 3:9 (ESV) — 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3:9 (KJV) — 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Moses was said to be faithful in the house of God as he led the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses too had his moments but he didn’t leave his post as God’s servant and was said to be faithful.
Hebrews 3:5–6 (ESV) — 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Although Caleb is not described as faithful by word, his name implies it along with his actions as you’ll see below that he “wholly followed the Lord.”
Joshua 14:7–12 (ESV) — 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”
A person who is faithful doesn’t need to announce it. His faithful life will be seen in the things he does.
Proverbs 25:27 (ESV) — 27 It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.
James 2:18 (ESV) — 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Above all when we talk of faithfulness, we must speak of the one who faithfully carried out the work of redemption, even to dying upon the cross. Therefore we can be encouraged when we mess up or struggle believing that He, the Lord Jesus Christ, will remain faithful as our mediator, high priest, and friend.
2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV) — 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
That is your challenge this week – be a person who is faithful – faithful to God, to your church, to your family, to your friend because “… a faithful man, who can find?”
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker
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