Old Faithful

Everyone's heard of Old Faithful, Wyoming's geyser that erupts every hour and a half year round. People travel from all over the world to witness the phenomenon.

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It's so reliable, no one worries they'll miss it or it will suddenly stop shooting its incredible arc into the sky.

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We take for granted the things that never fail us. Faithfulness is truly appreciated only when it is gone.

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Faithfulness is the seventh Fruit of the Spirit that God wants to supernaturally instill in each of his children.

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A simple look around tells us why we need it. No one is faithful anymore. The person you took for better or worse got worse and you took off. The "lifetime" guarantee on your new appliance meant the "lifetime of the appliance" which turned out to be six months. We church-hop, friend-hop, job-hop, spouse-hop, and God-hop our way through life and wonder why we're not experiencing all that abundant life Jesus was talking about.

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We're not faithful by nature. Our human nature tells us that if it gets unpleasant, bail out. After all, it's about me and my happiness, so if I'm not happy, something needs to change.

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And that's true. But the something that needs to change is usually you.

All through Scripture, God constantly points to himself and says, "This is how to do it. Watch me. Be like me." He is faithful to us and wants us to mimic that in our earthly relationships and in our relationship with him.

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But it's hard for us to stop our continual search for self-satisfaction. We're like the little boy who stomps on the silver dollar in the mud to get to the shiny penny on the sidewalk. We eagerly trade in the peace of God for a cheap thrill that lasts only until we get it unwrapped. Then we whine that God has deserted us.

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He hasn't gone anywhere. His ways haven't changed. His character hasn't changed. He's the same God who rescued you last time, waiting until you get full of yourself and come back to him.

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And the more we bask in the faithfulness of God, the more we  become that to the people in our lives. He doesn't leave us when the going gets rough. And if he can stick it out with us, why can't we hang in there for the people he's put in our lives?

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Next time you hear or read about Old Faithful, let it be a reminder to take a quick inventory of your own faithfulness.

• Are you being faithful to Christ?
• Is he proud that you bear his name?
• Are you hanging in there with the difficult people in your life?
• Are you staying true to the calling God has placed on your life?

When you stand before him, will you hear the words: "Well done,  good and faithful servant?"

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Faithfulness has a rich reward.

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