Faithfulness
Matthew 4:21-22. Going on from there, He saw two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
The Lord has laid faithfulness so heavy on my heart the last 24 hours. I sold my most cherished possession this weekend, and He is giving me a glimpse of the blessing through that act of faithfulness. I experienced the Parable of the Talents personally last year from Matthew 25, and the Spirit keeps reminding me of the lesson taught there. What level of faithlessness does it take for us to hold onto our most cherished possessions? How little do we trust God and rest on our own provision? Satan even gave me a possible “out” as a test in the middle of that sale, but thankfully God’s sovereignty prevailed my possible mistake.
I wanted to spend time in the Gospels this morning seeing where the Holy Spirit wanted me to write about faithfulness. I got no farther than the fourth chapter of Matthew. I don’t know what I expected, the entire Bible is a book of faithfulness. The entire Bible is a book of blessings to those that were faithful, and the consequences to those that were not. What is faithfulness? Faithfulness is the act of obedience resting in the assurance of a sovereign God.
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24 In the context of that passage Jesus is speaking directly how we view money, or stuff, or anything of value that we have accumulated. Do you realize that anything you have is a gift from God that he has a loaned you? James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. When we can grow in our faith enough to understand that all in this life is temporary, letting go through faith and obedience draws us closer to Him every step. We begin to see the blessings found in each act of faith and obedience. He then uses us to encourage others to do the same. All throughout the Bible are the evidences that you must let go, and let God. Countless times men and women of faith experienced great moves of God when they stepped out in faith. You can do this, only by letting Him do this, through your obedience.
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