Walk of Life – Day 20 – January 2021 – Thoughts from the Book of Proverbs
NEW BEGINNINGS – NEW FAITHFULNESS
Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? Proverbs 20:6
But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. Numbers 12:7
I shudder when I read Numbers 12:7. The ruler of heaven and earth declares ” he is faithful in all my house.” What a beautiful compliment coming from the creator. The Lord sees the life of his servant and He states, this man is excellent in the character of faithfulness, he has scored triple As…he is the best in all my house. As much as it awes me, I long to be where Moses was…that grade for being faithful.
I always wonder, where did Moses learn to be faithful. He was the prince of Egypt for 40 years. He would have got all that he wanted, he commanded and it was done. He ruled and was superior to all except the king. Surely, he never learned faithfulness there. Every day he would study with the best tutors, eat the best food, learn the best of Egypt, he lived a life of absolute luxury. The Lord had to take this Moses to the school of the wilderness for 40 years. He had to unlearn all that he learnt.
“It was not through Moses’s first forty years of training in the palace and the military academies of Egypt that he became a spiritual leader. No. It was through God breaking the strength of his ‘Self’, when Moses spent the next forty years looking after sheep in the wilderness. At the age of eighty, with his confidence in his own abilities shattered, Moses could lean upon God and become the deliverer of God’s people. In the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness, we read one phrase repeated eighteen times in Exodus chapters 39 and 40- the phrase, “just as the Lord had commanded Moses”. The pattern of the tabernacle given by the Lord was a very simple and modest-looking affair. It was a far cry from the fantastic pyramids that Moses had seen built in Egypt. If Moses had been given the plan of the tabernacle at the age of 40, when the strength of his ‘Self’ was in full bloom, he would certainly have modified it and made it look more attractive. – Zac Poonen”
For Moses to be faithful, the wilderness experience was a must. Self had to die. He had to let go for his own wisdom and completely depend on the Lord. The minute you think I am strong enough, I can manage this alone, I need no one, I can stand on my own feet…when the ‘I’ is not crucified on the cross, you can never be faithful to your master. To obtain divine wisdom, human wisdom must be dethroned. We learn faithfulness at Golgotha, at Gethsemane, at the feet of Jesus. The Lord Jesus was faithful unto death, even the death of the cross. Faithfulness is implicit, wholehearted obedience. It is doing what you say and commit to. It is very easy to make promises, we do it on a daily basis but do we keep up our word. Do we live up to what we believe. Do I as a Christian live my life as a little Christ in this world?
Can my Father say “Well done my good and faithful servant”? Ponder for a minute, am I really faithful to the Lord in all that I promised to do for him. Do I keep my word in my daily life? This new year, I resolve dear Lord that I will be faithful to you come what may. I will do ALL that you command not half, not three-fourth but total complete obedience and subjection. I will remain faithful whatsoever it means.
“When all is finally said and done I want to be called as God’s faithful one”
Faithfulness in the little, every day things of life is a commitment. No one watches your private life. No one knows what you think or how you behave in your personal space. We used to sing this song, “The father up above is looking down below so be careful little eyes, little ears…” I think today we have forgotten…we browse as per our own whims and fancies, are you every minute conscious that your every move is recorded, your every chat message, every FaceBook post, every anonymous text is all recorded with your name in heaven. Times have changed, technology has, but the Lord is the same. He still is looking for a faithful man who would do His will. Will you be that person?
