“Dirty Windows”

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?”

Isaiah 29:15

This week marks what would have been my dad’s 105th birthday. I can’t help but think about him and his many years of faithfulness to the Lord. I always say that faithfulness is the first word that comes to my mind when I think about him.

“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”

John 12:26

What makes a life that faithfully serves the Lord? Does it take a superhuman or someone

with a high IQ? Do they have to have exceptional talent and excel in many aspects of their life? Do they have to be the strongest or best looking? What exactly does make a faithful servant of God? I think the answer is found in someone like my dad – they have to be willing. Yep, that’s it! No hidden secrets or formulas. Just a life that is willing to let God use them in any way that He wants.

“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

1 Corinthians 4:1-2

The problem comes when we want to help God out in our own way, not His. Or we just don’t make our lives willing to be used. We don’t want to sacrifice our will to His. And yes, sometimes it is a sacrifice but worth the results that only He can give. Maybe results that we can’t see this side of eternity, but will be revealed in Heaven. That means that each and every day when you wake up you have to make the choice to let God lead in your life and give Him the reigns of your will just as it says in Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

Colossians 3:23-24

What is keeping you from being a faithful servant of the Lord? You know what it is, don’t you? It’s a choice. Our lives are actually made up of the accumulation of all of the choices that we make, aren’t they? Good ones or bad ones. Are you choosing your way or God’s way? Are the decisions and choices that you make daily based on what you want or what God wants? Be honest because God already knows the answers. We all have so many things happen in our lives, and we are all faced with this decision or choice to make; will we remain faithful to the Lord, or will we run from the Lord? When everything is going great in our lives, it’s easy to rejoice and be faithful. Unfortunately, all too many times I have seen people who go through a valley or trial and the first thing they do is to stop coming to church. Their trials shatter their faith. Their faithfulness and trust in the Lord are

controlled by what is going on in their lives. That’s not what God intended. Sure, it is hard to have unshakeable faith when faced with death, sickness, joblessness, etc.

“Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart:  consider how great things he hath done for you.”

1 Samuel 12:24

The faithfulness of my dad up to the age of almost 102 wasn’t just a stroke of luck, no, it was a choice. He faithfully made the choice every day to allow God to work in his life and turned over the reins of his will to God’s. Was my dad somebody special? (Well, yes he is to me and many others.) But we can all do what he has done. We all can make the choice to allow God to lead us and give our will to Him each and every day. I pray that I will make that same choice every day and allow God to work in my life and willingly give up my will to His and be called a faithful servant of the Lord. Will you make that same choice? Will you hear the words from God, “Well Done Thou Good and Faithful Servant?”

Well Done

Oh, to hear those words when we see His face,

At the end of time in that glorious place.

We’ll bow before Him, worshipping our King,

As we hear the host of angels sing.

A crown of righteousness awaits we’re told,

For our faithfulness within the fold;

But at His feet our crown we’ll cast,

When our wonderful Saviour we meet at last.

Yes, face to face we’ll see Him there,

The one who died, our sins to bear.

He made the way for our spiritual birth,

And abundant life upon the earth.

As we enter into glory with our merciful King,

Along with the angels we’ll eternally sing...

Praises to His name for His marvelous grace,

Enabling us to enter His Holy Place -

And as faithful servants who’ve received God’s Son,

We’ll hear his voice say to us..."Well Done".

- Connie Campbell Bratcher