Here’s how Solomon puts it in the Proverbs. Proverbs 27:1 “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Here’s how Jesus puts it. Matthew 6:34 “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Did you know that only day in which God has called you to be faithful is today? Folks there will be greater and more difficult mountains to climb tomorrow. But who here is going to worry about tomorrow when he’s got a whole lot to be faithful in today? It’s true; David really blows it later with a woman named Bathsheba. But today he’s faithful. And the exact same thing is true with you. All you have is today. And all you can do by His grace is to be faithful today.
Think about your own life and what you have to be faithful in. Is it the faithfulness of purity? Is it the faithfulness of finances? Is it the faithfulness of love? Is it the faithfulness of someone who is clearly unfaithful to you? You see, all you have is today to be faithful in.
1. Be faithful to those who are unfaithful to you.
2. Be faithful today.
3. Faithfulness is akin to godliness. Here’s what the Bible teaches. Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)…” I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
You see, God is faithful. He can’t go against His own nature. And every time you are faithful in whatever He’s called you to be faithful in, you are being just like Him. And do you think He doesn’t see it? It’s not the calling of God for you to worry in the least about the faithfulness of someone else. Your calling is to be faithful with what He has allowed to come into your life.
4. Be faithful because there is a reward.
One of those rewards is this. If you are faithful to others, they will be faithful to you. Well, not always. But let’s put it like this. Your faithfulness to those God has placed into your life will; generally, result in their being faithful back to you.
Imagine working on a road paving crew for 20 years. You stay out in the heat, oil and grime of one of the hardest jobs possible. Your hands are callused. Your back hurts continually. The wind, sun and weather scar your face. You have a family—some children and a wife. She complains about the hours, no vacations, the pay that seems unfair compared to the work you do. The bills pile up and the stress and tension grows. She wants you to quit. You have been on the road crew so long you don’t know what else to do. Your boss is a fair employer but you don’t know if you can hang on; year after year, though, you do. Then the rumor starts that the business is going to be sold. You fear for your job and your family. You get word that the boss is meeting with all the employees. All you can think about is that at least he has the guts to come and tell everyone face to face that they’ll soon be out of a job.
When you arrive at work that day, everyone is there. Your stomach is churning. You’re wondering how and why it has to be you. You’ve been a good employee for a lot of years and now this. The owner greets everyone with the news that even though the company is selling; an important part of the contract is that everyone gets to keep their job.
You are completely relieved but wonder why he brought everyone together just to tell them this. Then he starts passing out envelopes. You think that maybe it’s a gift certificate for couple of family dinners at Ryan’s. You open the envelope and discover it’s a check for one million tax free dollars! The owner looks you in the face and says, "Thanks!"
That is exactly what happened to the Thompson-McCully road paving crew. Michigan’s largest paving company which was sold by owner Bob Thompson for over 422 million dollars [found on www.thefreelibrary.com.] Thompson decided that the best thing to do with the profits of the sale of his company was to give it away to the people who made the company worth 422 million dollars. So Bob Thompson gave 550 employees bonuses for their devotion and commitment to the company. A total of ninety employees received no less than one million dollars [found on www.asphaltmagazine.com “Innovative, Tough, by John Davis and Dwight Walker] But whatever the employees received, it was enough to say their work for him mattered. [From “The Rewards of Faithfulness” found on www.qsl.net/w5vzc/september19.html]
Did you know that only day in which God has called you to be faithful is today? Folks there will be greater and more difficult mountains to climb tomorrow. But who here is going to worry about tomorrow when he’s got a whole lot to be faithful in today? It’s true; David really blows it later with a woman named Bathsheba. But today he’s faithful. And the exact same thing is true with you. All you have is today. And all you can do by His grace is to be faithful today.
Think about your own life and what you have to be faithful in. Is it the faithfulness of purity? Is it the faithfulness of finances? Is it the faithfulness of love? Is it the faithfulness of someone who is clearly unfaithful to you? You see, all you have is today to be faithful in.
1. Be faithful to those who are unfaithful to you.
2. Be faithful today.
3. Faithfulness is akin to godliness. Here’s what the Bible teaches. Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)…” I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
You see, God is faithful. He can’t go against His own nature. And every time you are faithful in whatever He’s called you to be faithful in, you are being just like Him. And do you think He doesn’t see it? It’s not the calling of God for you to worry in the least about the faithfulness of someone else. Your calling is to be faithful with what He has allowed to come into your life.
4. Be faithful because there is a reward.
One of those rewards is this. If you are faithful to others, they will be faithful to you. Well, not always. But let’s put it like this. Your faithfulness to those God has placed into your life will; generally, result in their being faithful back to you.
Imagine working on a road paving crew for 20 years. You stay out in the heat, oil and grime of one of the hardest jobs possible. Your hands are callused. Your back hurts continually. The wind, sun and weather scar your face. You have a family—some children and a wife. She complains about the hours, no vacations, the pay that seems unfair compared to the work you do. The bills pile up and the stress and tension grows. She wants you to quit. You have been on the road crew so long you don’t know what else to do. Your boss is a fair employer but you don’t know if you can hang on; year after year, though, you do. Then the rumor starts that the business is going to be sold. You fear for your job and your family. You get word that the boss is meeting with all the employees. All you can think about is that at least he has the guts to come and tell everyone face to face that they’ll soon be out of a job.
When you arrive at work that day, everyone is there. Your stomach is churning. You’re wondering how and why it has to be you. You’ve been a good employee for a lot of years and now this. The owner greets everyone with the news that even though the company is selling; an important part of the contract is that everyone gets to keep their job.
You are completely relieved but wonder why he brought everyone together just to tell them this. Then he starts passing out envelopes. You think that maybe it’s a gift certificate for couple of family dinners at Ryan’s. You open the envelope and discover it’s a check for one million tax free dollars! The owner looks you in the face and says, "Thanks!"
That is exactly what happened to the Thompson-McCully road paving crew. Michigan’s largest paving company which was sold by owner Bob Thompson for over 422 million dollars [found on www.thefreelibrary.com.] Thompson decided that the best thing to do with the profits of the sale of his company was to give it away to the people who made the company worth 422 million dollars. So Bob Thompson gave 550 employees bonuses for their devotion and commitment to the company. A total of ninety employees received no less than one million dollars [found on www.asphaltmagazine.com “Innovative, Tough, by John Davis and Dwight Walker] But whatever the employees received, it was enough to say their work for him mattered. [From “The Rewards of Faithfulness” found on www.qsl.net/w5vzc/september19.html]
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