Thank you, faithful God
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations" (NIV) Psalm 100:4-5
Let’s go down memory lane and recite an old kindergarten rhyme:
When I was a poor man, my family didn’t know me
When I became a rich man, my family wrote me a letter
Go and tell my family: “Still I am a poor man”.
This rhyme captures, quite succinctly, human faithfulness or the lack of it thereof.
A lot of times, we behave like the family of the man in the rhyme; our faithfulness to people is dependent on what we stand to gain from them. At other times, we behave like the man in the rhyme; our faithfulness to people depends on how faithful they have been to us in the past. Simply put, it’s hard for us, to remain unconditionally faithful to others.
Fortunately, we worship a God whose faithfulness is nothing like that of humans. Our God remains faithful to us every second of everyday and through all generations. His faithfulness is unconditional and knows no boundaries. Even when we turn our backs on Him, do the very things He has instructed us not to do and forget that He even exists, He still remains faithful to us.
Beloved, I don’t know about you but when I think back about how situations have rolled in my life, there is only one conclusion I can draw – the Lord’s faithfulness is what has brought me this far this year. God has been faithful to us not because of what we have done but in spite of what we have done, not because of what He will get in return but in spite of what He will get in return.
Our journey through this year has not been a perfect one; we have fallen several times, sometimes through our own earthly desires and sometimes through the work of the evil one. But one thing has remained true throughout the year – God has been by our side every step of the way. He has picked us up when we have fallen, washed us clean when we have been dirty, encouraged us when we have been down, opened doors for us when it seemed there was nowhere else to go.
Dear child of God, take another trip down the memory lane of the past months or days. If you do, I believe you will agree with me that there is only one thing you and I can say to our Lord – Thank You, Faithful God.
Hymn:
Faithful love flowing down from the thorn-covered crown,
Makes me whole, saves my soul,
Washes whiter than snow.
Faithful love calms each fear, reaches down, dries each tear;
Holds my hand when I can’t stand on my own.
Chorus:
Faithful love from above
Came to earth to show the Father’s love.
And I’ll never be the same,
For I’ve seen faithful love face to face,
And Jesus is His name.