Devotionals: rewards of faithfulness

Devotionals: rewards of faithfulness

Posted on January 19, 2009 Updated on January 19, 2009

Memorise: “Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God” (1 Cor 7:24)

Read: 2 Timothy 1:6-10

Pastor E.ADEBOYE

Any serious minded person engaged in God’s service would want to hear: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”. In all my labours for the Kingdom, this is my utmost desire. Unfortunately, many will receive a rebuke, or even judgement instead of this priceless commendation. May you receive the Lord’s approval in Jesus’ Name. One major qualification for divine approval is faithfulness. This all-embracing word must be taken seriously by every child of God.

“His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:21).

Faithfulness is Heaven’s major yardstick for work, evaluation and final eternal reward. Many are called to work for God but only the faithful will receive the reward.

Similarly, 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 says that faithfulness is a determining factor in selecting those who will be custodians of divine mysteries. If you are unfaithful, God cannot entrust you with His secrets. The faithful are assured of a great eternal future with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you take a close look at our attitude to divine assignments, you will be shocked how much of our labours will go unrewarded, because they fail to satisfy God’s standard on faithfulness.

What then is faithfulness? We shall examine the components of faithfulness. The first component is recognizing your calling or assignment and abiding in it. 1 Corinthians 7:20-24 says every believer should abide by his calling. God has a calling upon your life. He has a particular office, or ministry gift under which you should operate. If you veer off from that assignment, you are automatically rendered unfaithful.

This is why believers must be very careful how they move from one department to another, except when assigned by their leaders. Indiscriminate movement from one office to another, can bring divine judgement. King Uzziah tried to perform the functions of a priest and it brought leprosy on him (2 Chron 26:16-23).

You cannot be faithful if you do not know the department or assignment God has for you. Some workers are ghost -workers. They have names and titles, but are unengaged in God’s service. Such people can never be faithful to God, except they repent and start afresh. Are you where God wants you to be? Sometimes you have a particular department in mind, but if your pastor says otherwise, obey him. If you are idle or bench warming, you are miles away from faithfulness.

What you hold back from Jesus will hold you back. What you release to Him will release you into your destiny.

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