Faithfulness seems to be a rare thing today, in jobs and in relationships. At times, it becomes difficult to find faithful and trustworthy people who can be entrusted with big responsibilities. Mother Theresa once said,
“God calls us to faithfulness, not to success”.
It is a known fact that not everyone can sing or preach or teach but all can be faithful. The positive outcome of true faith in God is faithfulness. Our thought for reflection this morning is, “Our God Today was Once the Faithful God Of Abraham and Isaac.”
There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying”
(Genesis 28:13)
Jacob experienced God’s presence very close to him when he was sleeping at a certain place, on the way to Haran. Through that experience God wanted to teach Jacob the valuable spiritual lesson that there was no need for him to snatch blessings from others to be successful. All that he had to do was to yield total control of his life to God and faithfully walk in His ways and He would do the rest in his life. Yahweh’s self-introduction to Jacob as “the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac is significant in two ways:
1. It signifies the Faithfulness of God to His children.
By identifying Himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac, Yahweh wanted Jacob to know that, being the God of his grandfather and father, His name and His character were bound to them. He also wanted to remind Jacob of how He had been faithful to his ancestors all through their lives. God who had brought out Abraham from Ur to Canaan, met all his physical, social and material needs. The same He did to Isaac too. Probably God was also hinting to Jacob that He was going to be faithful to Jacob too, in spite of his unfaithful behaviour towards his brother Esau. Is it not true that though He has always been faithful to us, we have often failed to be faithful to Him?
2. It signifies the need to Follow in the footsteps of our forefathers.
God, by referring to Himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac, was inviting Jacob to follow their steps. Whenever Abraham and Isaac obeyed God’s commands they were blessed. But whenever they acted on their own by listening to their common sense, they faced serious consequences. Is it not true that the real test of our Christianity isn’t just seen in our Sunday church attendance or our work for God or activities in His name but in our day to day obedience to His Word?
Vance Havner says,
“God is faithful and He expects His children to be faithful. God’s Word speaks of faithful servants, faithful in few things, faithful in the least, faithful in the Lord, faithful ministers. And all points up to that day when He will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Shall we make a commitment this morning to be faithful in every little thing the Lord has entrusted in our hands? Shall we decide to walk faithfully in the footsteps of Abraham and Isaac by obeying God’s Word? Then our Lord Jesus Christ will find us to be faithful servants when we meet Him face to face one day!
Blessed day!