by Ptr. Jun Caruz
Old Faithful is unquestionably the world’s most famous geyser. Located in the Upper Geyser Basin at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Old Faithful is well known for its predictability to erupt, which on the average can occur every 90 minutes. People would gather around the benches surrounding Old Faithful and patiently wait for its next scheduled eruption.
God’s faithfulness always amazes me. He has proven throughout the ages that He is faithful. We have seen His faithfulness in the Old Testament when He delivered the Israelites from the Pharaoh. The Israelites were God’s chosen people and we have seen how God protected them and remained faithful throughout their history. In the New Testament God demonstrated His faithfulness by sending His own son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. Through Christ our once broken relationship with God has been restored. We have been reconciled with a faithful God. In addition, we have also gained access to God’s throne so that we can experience more of His faithfulness.
But why is God faithful? Do we deserve His faithfulness? What is our response to His extravagant display of faithfulness? Deuteronomy 7:9 gave us light to our question of God’s faithfulness when Moses wrote: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”
First, God is faithful because it is His character. It is His nature to be faithful. When we find a person to be funny, we can be assured that he is always trying to make people laugh. It is his nature to be funny and it comes naturally to him. It is the same with God; He is faithful because it is His nature and character to be faithful. Everything He does, coincides with His nature of being faithful
Second, God is faithful because of His covenant with us. Christ’s blood sealed our covenant with God. Jesus guaranteed our covenant with God. In covenant terminology, both parties need to be faithful to one another. Since we have established a covenant with God through Christ, it is through this faithfulness that we are continually reminded of our covenant with Him.
Third, God is faithful because He loves us. God outpoured His love for you and me. John wrote in his epistle (1 John 4:19), “We love because he first loved us.” His love for us causes Him to be faithful.
Like Old Faithful’s predictability to erupt, we can be assured of God’s predictability to show His faithfulness. Like the people gathered around Old Faithful patiently waiting for an extravagant display of steam and water, God’s faithfulness will sure come - in an even more extravagant way.
