Wisdom - Faithful
but where on earth can you find one?'
Proverbs 20:6
[This is the 17th message in this series]
In this series we are highlighting two-liner verses from the Book of Proverbs.
Loyalty
In this world, everyone talks about how loyal or how faithful they are but can we really find someone who truly is?
People have always been bogged down by worries, by fears, by insecurities, priorities and their own agenda. And even if we can find people who can be loyal, how can we really tell if they truly are?
Disciples
Jesus, when He started His earthly ministry, He called people to follow Him. And they did. They stayed with Him during the three years that He went up and down the Judean countryside.
But when the going got tough, a lot of people left Him.
During one of these rough patches, when many of His followers have just left, Jesus asked His 12 closest followers if they were going to leave Him too. Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life. We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God’s Holy One.”
Rough Sailing
So many people followed Christ but only a few stayed. And even among those who did, all of them left Him during the worst of times.
When Jesus got arrested, everyone left.
During His trial and punishment only a handful of people came back to be with Him, among them, Mary, the mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene and John the beloved.
Simon Peter, the one who boasted that he will never leave Jesus, was no where near Him, nor was any of the other 12 disciples.
How Do We Know For Sure
Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, left him and was eaten up by remorse, guilt and self-condemnation.
Simon Peter, the one who boasted that he will never leave Jesus, was no where near Him, nor was any of the other 12 disciples.
How Do We Know For Sure
Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, left him and was eaten up by remorse, guilt and self-condemnation.
Simon Peter, betrayed Jesus three times, and like Judas, left Him during those rough times.
But an encounter with the Risen Christ changed it for Simon. He went back to the One who first loved Him and became loyal to Christ, up until the end of his life.
The couplet asks:
(Lots of people claim to be loyal and loving),
but where on earth can you find one?'
It is a rhetorical question.
Litmus
And we will never know if we can be truly loyal and faithful but we do find out if we are, when the going gets tough.
And we will never know if we can be truly loyal and faithful but we do find out if we are, when the going gets tough.
It is so easy to be 'kumbaya' with God when everything is 'happy-clappy'
The test is when we set sail on the open seas and get caught in one of those storms of life.
Faithful
If we don't give up like Judas did, we have the opportunity like Peter to redeem ourselves. Let us not kid ourselves, you too will go back to shore. Peter was a fisherman and he went back to fishing, the thing he knew best to do, after Jesus was buried.
So where on earth, can we find a loyal person? Perhaps never. But like Peter, he found one who was from out of this world. Jesus Christ was loyal to him and believed in him even though no one did. And even when he did not deserve it.
So where on earth, can we find a loyal person? Perhaps never. But like Peter, he found one who was from out of this world. Jesus Christ was loyal to him and believed in him even though no one did. And even when he did not deserve it.
We can be loyal and faithful to Jesus only because He was faithful and loyal to us first.
As we have said, time and time again, living the Christian life is nothing about us. It is, and will always be, all about Christ.
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