God’s Faithfulness

Reading the Old Testament teaches us a tremendous amount about God’s character. One characteristic that becomes quickly obvious is his faithfulness.

“Faithfulness is your very character.” (Psalm 89:8)

The word is used to describe him repeatedly, and the stories throughout the Old Testament time and again show God’s faithfulness despite man’s unfaithfulness to him.

Judges provides a microcosm of the truth that God is faithful even when man is not by showing a cycle of God’s people disobeying him, finding themselves in inescapable trouble, calling out to God, and God rescuing them. While this is seen throughout the Bible, and still today in our own lives, the stories in Judges allow us to see the pattern in digest form. It’s also seen by the repetition revealed even with just a cursory read of the book.

As it was with God’s people in Judges and has been throughout time, God’s faithfulness is our salvation. Even though we are repeatedly unfaithful to him, he continues to rescue and restore us. Not only that, but he encourages us to be and do better, a lesson also seen throughout the Bible.

My Motivation

Because of his faithfulness, God continues to rescue his people. In this, though, he also shows us that who we are matters to him. He doesn’t want us to stay in the same state we were in when we called out to him for rescue. In many places and in many ways, God shows us how what we do and where we go matters to him.

In Judges 2, he tells us that our:

  • Influences matter (vv. 1-5)
  • Heritage matters (vv. 6-10)
  • Focus matters (vv. 11-15)
  • Action matters (vv. 16-19)
  • Obedience matters (vv. 20-23)

Because God continues to rescue me and because he stays faithful even when I don’t, I am motivated to care about what matters to him. He cares about who I spend time with and where my thoughts dwell. He cares about what I do, and he gives instructions about how I go about doing it. He also wants me to remember his activity in my life, so I can be more confident of him always being active.

God’s faithfulness, while seen throughout the Old Testament, is not just a pre-Christ characteristic. In fact, Jesus is the ultimate manifestation of the faithfulness of God.

“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Let the faithfulness of God motivate you. Let it drive you toward obedience to his word instead of conformity to the world.