Obedience and Faithfulness
[2Kings 6:8-18] This is an account of how the Lord opened the eyes of a young man at Elisha’s request so that he could see how God had things under control. We must understand this truth by faith and not sight. Today we will look at two basic requirements in our Christian walk, obedience and faithfulness. Hopefully the lord will open your eyes to see how he can use these to bless you.
[2 Cor.10:5-6] Obedience
There are two parts to being obedient to God:
- “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ:”
If you are able to do this you will be as near to sinless as possible in this body
This is a daily, sometimes moment by moment process of prayer and total submission to God.
- “…readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”
At this point you want to hunt down, expose, and rid yourself of all disobedience, because you now realize how much it got between you and God, [Isa.59:2]. You never want to let it back in.
[Ps.31:23-24] Faithfulness
There are two results of faithfulness:
- God preserves or protects saints with faithfulness
In business, an employer will preserve or protect an employee that is faithful. That employee may not be the most skilled or knowledgeable, but because of his faithfulness his job is protected. God is the same way, Paul instructed Timothy to spend his time on faithful men, [2 Tim.2:1]. Being faithful to the things God wants done, the way he wants them done, when he wants them done, will keep you preserved of God.
- God rewards faithfulness
Faithfulness shows God that you are putting all you hope and trust in him, no matter what obstacles present themselves, [Gal.6:9]. We shall reap!
Illustration/Application
Port Ministry –
The Port Ministry of our church involves boarding commercial ships that dock in our port. We board the ship with phone cards and sim cards so that the seamen can communicate with loved ones back home. Back home is basically everywhere in the world. So our church has a mission field right here in Corpus Christi, Texas. We try to get a New Testament Bible in the hand of every seaman along with a clear presentation of the Gospel.
We have easy days and hard days. We have great moments of joy and great moments of discouragement. But this we have learned; God has a plan for each day and if we are willing to be obedient and faithful, THEN He can get something done. We have seen His hand in divine appointments where there is no possible way that we could have arraigned the circumstances, and we see men get saved!
This principle applies to everything in your Christian life. If you will be obedient and faithful God can get some stuff done in your life.