Prophet’s Reading Plan: Jeremiah 4- 6
And the fruit of the Spirit is… faithfulness…
Proverbs 3:3-4 (NIV) Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then
you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
The word “faithfulness” is mentioned less than 80 times
in the Bible, and not even a handful of those reference the faithfulness of man,
probably because man finds faithfulness a tough road to walk. Thankfully the
Bible highlights the lives of ordinary men and women who chose to walk the road
anyways. Noah and Joseph and Daniel and Ruth and Mary teach us that it is
possible to be a person of integrity who is faithful with responsibility and
reliability.
Faithfulness and love will win us favour in the eyes of
God and of man. God may ask us to do things that cause others to shake their
heads at us in confusion or disappointment, but following God is not completely
without benefit on this side of heaven. God is a gentleman who operates in full
integrity of character. When we follow in his ways, our faithfulness will
translate into integrity of character, too. As Christians, we must be people
who are responsible with the tasks given us by God and man, and we must be
reliable to follow through on what we say we will do. The true Christian life
is a dynamic one, fueled by a relationship with Jesus. We will affect others. There are countless stories of persecuted
believers who, through faithful love and service and integrity, have influenced
their own torturers and lead many sinners to the King. Let love and
faithfulness never leave you! Do what it takes to remain passionate for Jesus.
Read a Christian biography, challenge yourself to evangelize, memorize
Scripture – these things teach us to grow in the love and faithfulness of
Christ and others will be affected too.
PRAYER AND
MEDITATION
1. Ask
God to remind you of a commitment that you made that you have not followed
through on. Plan to get that done today.
2. Do
you feel your relationship with the Lord lacks passion? If so, don’t just let
it be! Talk to Christian friends and coworkers, take a suggestion from this
devotional and ask God to renew a fire in you.
3. Mediate
on the verses for today and ask God if there is anything specific He’d like to
reveal to you.
