Faith — The Detour - Thursday
TODAY’S VERSE
2 Timothy 2:13
If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself. (ESV)
I want you to think about the strongest relationship you have in your life. Someone you know deeply, and they know you. For me, there’s no question; it’s my wife. We’ve been married for 15 years and have been together for almost half of our lives at this point. Marriage is a covenant relationship, where we made vows to each other. We made promises to be faithful, to love, serve, and sacrifice for each other. To endure through the hard times, AND to have grace for each other when we fall short. That last part is important because, man, do I still fall short sometimes.
You see, even in our strongest relationships with friends, family members, or our spouse, none of us knocks it out of the park 100% of the time. Because we are human, we battle a sinful nature that pulls us toward self, which means inevitably we let people down, and sometimes they let us down. That is, every relationship except our relationship with Jesus.
Ever since I first heard 2 Timothy 2:13, it has amazed me. Did you catch that? Even when we are faithless, Jesus remains faithful because it’s just who He is. And because it’s who He is, He can’t be any different. Jesus is the only one who is truly steady and unchanging. He’s the definition of devoted. He is faithful.
Romans 5:6 tells us, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Then verse 8 follows up with this: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Look at what we bring to the table: weak, ungodly, sinner. Not much of a resume to brag about. But there are two words that change everything: “but God.” Jesus remained faithful to the Father’s plan, even though we didn’t deserve it. And it cost Him everything.
Your relationship with God, your adoption as His son or daughter, has nothing to do with you cleaning yourself up, or changing yourself, or being good enough. It’s all based on Jesus’ faithfulness.
APPLICATION
Write out a list of ways that you’ve seen God’s faithfulness in your life. Are there prayers you’ve seen Him answer? What good gifts has He put in your life? If you’re looking for a place to start, write Romans 5:8 at the top of your list and reflect on what Jesus did for you and me.
PRAYER
Father, thank You for Your faithfulness shown through Jesus. Thank You for Your grace, for giving us salvation that we did not deserve and could not earn on our own.