O Come All Ye Faithful

Contributed by John Fischer, for Purpose Driven Life Devotions
Have you ever come to Christmas season, caught yourself singing, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and wondered: “Who's that? Who can say they have been totally faithful to Christ?” If we were honest with ourselves, could anyone say they were entirely faithful in their walk with God? But what do we compare to? Perhaps the word “faithful” would have to be a relative thing. We would fail Him from time to time. We would have struggled with our faith. We can’t deny that we are unfaithful partners with God. There is a saying that was popular in the early days of the church. Paul called it “trustworthy saying” in a letter to Timothy: “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him.”2 Timothy 2:11-12: John believes that we Christians would be in bad shape if our security with God depended on our faithfulness to Him than He is to us. But the good news is: our security with God depends on His faithfulness to us. Matthew 18:6 shows us how Jesus chided his disciples for having “little faith,” but He did not kick them off the team for it. He called His followers an “unbelieving generation,” but He did not abandon them. And in spite of the saying above about disowning those who disown Him, Jesus apparently made an exception to that rule for Peter, who on three occasions disowned having any part of Christ. He later forgave Peter and accepted him back. John is sure we could recall times when we struggled with faith, had a hard time finding it, or perhaps found ourselves unfaithful to God. Whatever it is, we might have to find time to worship God for His faithfulness to us. We may have let go of Him, but He will never let go of us, because we are His, and He cannot disown what belongs to Him.