Finding a suitable card for a special occasion can often be frustrating. Many are either crude or overly sentimental. I once saw a Hallmark card that said, ‘I can’t promise you forever, but I can promise you today.’ Really?! Remaining married for 40 years requires faithfulness. The story is told of a man who had prayed 50 years for his friend, when he was finally converted. That is faithfulness, which is the seventh fruit of the Spirit. The Greek word for faithfulness means ‘to be assured, a firm persuasion, reliability or dependability.’ The Hebrew word for faith means ‘to believe, to have assurance in, to be faithful, to be established, to be verified.’ Our faithfulness verifies the faith we have. If I say I have faith in God, but don’t act like I do, then I do not show myself to be faithful to what I believe. The Hebrew word originally meant ‘the mother or nurse of a child.’ Very deep is the love of a mother. The child is totally dependent on her. Isaiah asks: ‘Can a mother forget the child at her breast?’ So, faithfulness can be defined as ‘…the concept of unfailingly remaining loyal to someone and putting that loyalty into consistent practice, regardless of extenuating circumstances.’ A commentator put it: ‘Faithfulness is love hanging on.’

The greatest example of faithfulness is God. Remember the fruit of the Spirit is the character of God. God’s faithfulness means he is trustworthy. He keeps his promises. Behind the universe is a faithful God. ‘Blessed is the one whose help is God… the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them - the LORD, who remains faithful forever.’ The universe is enormous with billions of galaxies all orbiting in an orderly way. It is so orderly we have been able to navigate by the stars for thousands of years. Scientists conduct experiments and search out patterns that can be mathematically described. They depend on the reliability of everything in nature behaving as it has in the past and will in the future. They are witnessing and documenting God’s enduring manner of maintaining the creation he made. These laws are a grand exhibit of the faithfulness of God. God’s faithfulness is also seen in the promises he made in salvation history. He promised Abraham that he would be a ‘blessing to all the nations’ which was fulfilled in Jesus. He was faithful all the way to the cross. It was Jesus’ faithfulness that kept him hanging on the cross. All that we have as Christians have come about because God and Jesus are faithful. Our hope for what is yet to come is based on the faithfulness of God. ‘Heaven and earth will pass a ay, but my words will never pass away.’ ‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’

God and Jesus have set the example. Now the Spirit is to work that faithfulness in us. The church is described as ‘the bride of Christ.’ Like a faithful spouse we are called to remain true in our love for Jesus. He is to be the number one in our time, love and attention. Is that evident in the way we handle our money and talents, in the way we teach our children, in the time we spend with our spouse? Are we faithful as a congregation in searching out God’s will for us in the time and place he has put us? Are we faithful as God’s people to call out against abuse and injustice? Are we faithful in our mission to grow as disciples and make disciples of others? We are to remain faithful in the big and seemingly innocuous things.

The story is told of a child who went to Sunday School because he was invited by children in the neighborhood. He went back to that Sunday School for over seven years. Each week he was faithfully picked up by a bus driver. Week after week he attended but never made a commitment to Christ. Finally, after being picked up for church after 400 times he committed his life to Jesus. What if that bus driver had given up at 395? What if he had said, ‘It’s a waste of time to pick up this kid?’ A person came to Christ because a bus driver, in his own simple way was faithful. Will you do that? Will you be faithful? Will Jesus say of you ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’?