"Faithful Sun, Faithful Moon"
I have a dear friend who has faithfully served in a particular calling for nearly 40 years. What dedication and consistency!
"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
Yes indeed, what dedication and consistency - of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (II Corinthians 10:17). My friend would agree. Her longstanding place and labor in the Lord originated and continues of the Lord, by the Lord, and for the Lord. My friend has a role in the matter, of course. She trusts and submits to God, placing her spiritual and earthly faculties at the disposal of the Lord's purposes. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). At the end of the day, however, just as at the beginning, God's dedication and consistent fulfillment of His promises to my friend constitutes the power of nearly 40 years lived in ongoing faith and faithfulness. The Apostle Paul testified to such Divine infusion of enabling regarding his own life and ministry:
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me… I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily" (I Corinthians 15:10; Colossians 1:29).
I frequently affirm the faithfulness I have long witnessed in my friend. She has devoted herself to the "reasonable service" of presenting herself to the Lord for His glory in an exemplary manner that fulfills "the beauty of holiness" revealed in those inhabited and empowered by the Spirit of Christ (Psalm 29:2). My friend would nevertheless implore that I direct all honor to the Lord Jesus. Her long journey of faithfulness began and proceeds in God's faithfulness. Just as a faithful moon reflects the light and warmth of a faithful sun, so do trusting believers perpetually shine by the illumination of a trustworthy Christ. Thus, my friend serves as a testimony to the beginning and the ongoing performance of God's good work. That is the best thing one can say about any human being, and about the One whose promise of grace shines forth as sunlight beautifully reflected by faithful moons…
"Christ in you, the hope of glory… God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
(Colossians 1:27; II Corinthians 6:16)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
(Jeremiahs 33:3)
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