Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? (Proverbs 20:6).
Every pastor, Sunday school teacher, bus captain, manager, coach, choir director, and leader of any kind can relate to the sentiment expressed in this proverb. It seems that there are many more people who will promise that they will be in Sunday school than those who actually show up on a regular basis. It seems much more difficult to find someone who will be a good employee than it is to find someone who can answer questions nicely in an interview. Applicants can tell you all of the wonderful things they did at their last place of employment during that first meeting, but you can hardly get them to show up for work once you have hired them.
God puts a premium on faithfulness. He is looking for people who will serve Him faithfully. “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me” Psalm 101:6. God is watching every one of us all of the time. When God sees someone who is faithful, He desires to use that person to accomplish His purposes. If we could keep this picture in our minds, it would motivate us to be more faithful. The Bible speaks of Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel, and Paul being faithful men. These men are great examples to us as we strive to be faithful. God used each of them greatly because of their faithfulness to Him.
Faithful in Relationships
The proverb asks, “A faithful man, who can find?” We all relate to this in our personal relationships. We want a faithful mate. We want our family members to be faithful. We want faithful friends. These relationships are the basic building blocks of society. America is hurting today because there is unfaithfulness in marriages. Some people get the idea from watching television that it is no big deal if the family is falling apart. The sitcoms revolve around broken homes, broken promises, and broken lives; yet these situations are portrayed in a way that makes people laugh, so they begin to think unfaithfulness is just a part of life. They begin to think they can survive unfaithfulness in their own relationships by laughing it off. In reality, unfaithfulness in marriage causes a great deal of damage to everyone who is touched by it.
Perhaps the children in these situations suffer the worst. Many begin thinking that if they had been better children, their parents would not have gotten a divorce. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth; but this wrong perception creates a painful and sometimes life-altering situation. Children who grow up in brok.en homes are many times more likely to be involved in crime, to have difficulties in their own relationships, and to succumb to addictions to drugs and alcohol. So many of these problems could be avoided if more men and women would simply decide to be faithful.
Faithful in Fulfilling Responsibilities
What if Sunday school class members all attended Sunday school? What if choir members went to choir practice? What if church members tithed? What if Sunday school teachers got to class early? What if students did their homework? What if employees gave a full day’s work for a full day’s pay? What kind of a world would we live in if everyone fulfilled his responsibilities? It would be a different world, that is for sure. The Psalmist wrote, “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men” (Psalm 12:1).
It is dishonest for us to accept a responsibility and then fail to fulfill it. If we agree to live a certain way in order to hold a position of leadership in the church, then the pastor should not have to deal with reports that we have not been living as we said that we would. If we accept the responsibility of a volunteer position, we should be happy to fulfill that responsibility. When the time comes that we can no longer meet our obligation, we need to be honest with the leadership and allow someone else to fill our position.
The Scriptures we have considered here certainly describe the situations that we face today. In a world that shirks responsibility, let us stand up and be counted as faithful men and women. Let us be different and make a difference for those around us. Let us be faithful.
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