Do you know what the word “faithful” means? The dictionary uses words like “dependable,” “steady,” “loyal” and “true” to explain what it means. Let me tell you about a dog named Trooper that lives in Iowa, and I think you’ll understand a little more about that word “faithful.”
I’m not sure exactly what kind of a dog Trooper is, but he’s a pretty big dog with a coat of thick, white fur. He’s friendly, but he doesn’t jump up on you. You only need to call his name and he comes right over with his long tail wagging, waiting for you to pet him or scratch his head. And he is a faithful dog. I have no doubt that he is very faithful to his master, because he is so faithful in another way.
Trooper lives about a mile away from a little meeting hall where Christians go to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to hear and learn about Him. For some years now, Trooper has also gone to the same little meeting hall. He doesn’t go inside; he waits outside. When the people arrive, Trooper is there to greet them. When they come back out, he is still there with his tail wagging.
You may think that he is waiting for his master to come out, but his master does not attend this little meeting hall. Yet Trooper is there every Sunday morning at 9:30, every Sunday evening at 7:00, and every Wednesday evening at 7:30. Whenever there is a meeting going on in that hall, Trooper is one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. And he doesn’t come in a car or van . . . he walks.
Iowa has some pretty harsh weather. In summer the temperature sometimes will go above 100 degrees, often followed by thunderstorms with lots of lightning. In winter it often goes below zero with blowing and drifting snow. But Trooper is always at the little hall right on time, and he waits outside regardless of the weather until everyone has gone home again. He is dependable, steady, loyal and true. Trooper is faithful.
Do you have a faithful friend? Someone you can count on to be dependable, steady, loyal and true to you? Most of us have at least one friend we can count on. But there are some things that even our faithful friends or pets cannot do. They cannot be with us all the time. If Trooper were closed up in the house, he could not get out to be at the meeting hall on time. And something else our faithful friends cannot always do no matter how much they want to—they cannot always keep their promises. All it takes is a heavy snowfall, and many promised plans are canceled.
Now let me tell you about one faithful Friend who can be with you all the time and who always keeps His promises! His name is Jesus. He loves you and has made some promises to you that He will always keep. In Joshua 1:5 He says, “I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake [desert] thee.” In Hebrews 13:5 He says again, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
And He has made some other promises to you that He will keep if you will let Him. If you will come to Him and admit that you are a sinner and believe that He died on the cross for your sins, He promises to forgive you! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And He adds another promise to that one—a home with Him in heaven. “I go to prepare a place for you . . . .that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).
There are many more promises that He has given to us in the Bible. And He will keep every single one, because He is God, and “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:9). “He is faithful that promised” (Hebrews 10:23). Closed doors or bad weather will never keep Him from being dependable, steady, loyal and true.
Is Jesus your faithful Friend and Savior? He wants to be.
MEMORY VERSE: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9