Faithfulness Unto Death – Part One

Jesus is appropriately spoken of as being  “the faithful witness” (Rev. 1: 5). It was He who said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2: 10b).

As your mind scans His life from the wilderness temptations to the last agonizing utterance from the cross, He is observed to have been faithful.

An appeal for faithfulness in an era when commitment is uncommon may seem futile. However, in every age there are those who break free from the norm of the time and faithfully forget themselves into immortality. With the banner of uncommitment flying over the castle of many hearts there are still those who are willing to pay the price for being faithful.

Breaking ranks with the common drummer, many courageous young people as well as adults are dauntlessly devoted to Jesus.

In the fields of commerce and industry, where compromise and a lack of commitment abound, there are those who faithfully remain loyal to our Lord.

With virtually all forms of entertainment encouraging noncommitment and depicting unfaithfulness, many are being swept into the vortex of the sewer of self-indulgence. That makes those who dare swim against the tide and remain faithful all the more admirable.

The word faithful, in summary, speaks of persons setting their priorities and sticking by them. It is a bold declaration of “Here I stand. I can do none else.” It is a structuring of one’s social, business, and spiritual calendar to put Jesus first and sticking with it.

That is an exhortation to excellence. Joan of Arc, of whom one wrote: “She chose her path and went down it like a thunderbolt.”

In the Old Testament faithfulness unto death is characterized by Joshua of whom it was said, “He looked neither to the right nor to the left.”  He faithfully stayed on course.

A peerless New Testament example “stick-to-a-tive-ness” is our Lord. He neither waffled or wavered on His earth walk to Calvary.

From the world of sports comes insight into the importance of commitment. Vince Lombardi, former coach of the Green Bay Packers, once observed: “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor.”

In light of these truths “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23.