faithful

"Many a man will declare his own goodness, but a faithful man, who can find?"  Proverbs 20:6

I saw a photo of the excavations of Pompeii, the ancient Roman city that was buried, almost frozen in time, under tons of volcanic ash. The eruption was so sudden, so violent, that many people were doing the basic day-to-day things of life when they were instantly smothered. There was no warning. Death was virtually instantaneous.

One lone Roman soldier stood vigil facing the volcano. He saw the eruption and the deadly ash cloud headed for the city and could have tried to run. He chose to stand.  Roman soldiers DID NOT leave their posts unless they were relieved. They stood faithful to the task before them.

This lone soldier stood his ground and was buried alive facing the volcano. His assignment was to guard the city. He stands as a silent vigil over that doomed city today. He was faithful to the task.

God calls us to be faithful witnesses to the world and to each other of His goodness.  Your testimony of Christ to the world has little power if you are not loving your spouse, honoring your parents, raising godly children and walking out the life of Christ within you in this fallen world.

Jesus promised that when we appear before Him, those who walked close in obedience to him will hear these words - "Well done, thou good and FAITHFUL servant.  Enter into the joy of the Lord."   We cannot experience the Lord's joy unless we are faithful to His call on our lives.

Joy is an issue of the heart. You have to be close and intimate with someone to hear their heartbeat.  The One we desire calls himself "Faithful and True."

I have wrestled with standing faithful and, in spite of many obstacles that have tried to sway me, have elected to stay with the call of God on my life. I have chosen to run the race to its completion.

I once saw on a sports broadcast a long distance runner who won a grueling race. His trainer was waiting for him at the finish line. This victorious athlete ran past the trophy right into his coach's arms. The reward could wait.  I suspect he wanted to hear his coach's praise.

I want to finish my life like that  - running right into my Saviors' waiting arms.  His words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant", are what I am running to finally hear.  His rewards, wonderful are thy are, can wait.  I want  to hear His words  I want to see His smile.

"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." Rev. 2:10.

Will you stand firm to the call of God?

Will you be found faithful?

-author unknown