Daily Jewel

by Pastor J.T. Carnell, McAlester, OK
Sept. 20, 2011

Do We Really Know How to be Loyal?
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." – Proverbs 3:3

I received a note from one of the readers of this daily message giving me their idea of what loyalty means to them. They compared it to their marriage – having compassion and loyalty with one another with that based firmly in their faith in Christ. What a great analogy – especially in a day and age where loyalty and faithfulness is almost non-existent. Marriage is under attack on practically every front and according to Focus on the Family, for those recently married and those who will be getting married in the near future - one out of every two marriages, Christians included will likely end in divorce. Not a very positive note is it?
It used to be that people lived in one place for practically all of their lives. Today, according to statistics, American’s will move an average of five times in their life-times. I counted up that I have moved 19 times in my life. That includes living in Georgia, Missouri (twice), Kansas, Colorado (twice), Oklahoma (twice) and Texas. I have a friend that claims to have lived in 18 states. There’s a man who needs to collect some frequent flier miles!
It also used to be that when a person took a job both the employer and employee worked together to make the business successful. It would be easy to blame one or the other (the employee and/or employer) but the truth of the matter neither side provide any level of stability as they once did. We truly live in a “throw-away” society – and the proof is in how we treat our friendships…jobs…marriages…and, even more sadly, our faith!! Perhaps the answer to our problem comes down to where we place our trust! Where our trust is, or what our trust is in could be the key to unlocking the door to stronger relationships, marriages and churches!!
John G. Paton (1824-1907) was a Christian missionary to the natives of the New Hebrides . He was born on a small farm near Dumfries, Scotland. The eldest of eleven children, he was led to Christ as a child by his godly father, James. Among John’s early memories was the mental picture of his father going three times a day into the “prayer closet” at home and later coming out with a shining face “as of one who had been on the Mount of Transfiguration.” As a youth he remembered the voice of the Lord saying, “Go across the seas as the messenger of My love; and lo, I am with you.” He obeyed.
Years later—as a pioneer missionary to the New Hebrides—part of his work was translating the Scriptures into the language of the people of that distant place. He struggled with finding a word for “faith” in their language; there seemed to be no equivalent. One day a native worker came in from a hard day’s work and said, “Oh, I’m so tired. I feel I must lean my whole weight on this chair.” Paton said at that moment, “Praise God, I’ve got my word.” He thus translated John 3:16 to read, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever leaneth his whole weight on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We live our lives daily, trusting on man-made things—roads, bridges, overpasses, sidewalks, ladders—to do what they were built to do, and to keep us safe. We seldom ask, “Is this sidewalk safe?” We just step on it, trusting that whoever poured the concrete did it right. Jesus wants us to do that with Him. He wants us to lean our whole weight on him in everything we do, important and unimportant. He wants to engage with us in everything that goes on. I think of the words of that great hymn:
“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” What have I to dread, what have I to fear, Leaning on the everlasting arms? I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, Leaning on the everlasting arms! Leaning (on Jesus), leaning (on Jesus), Safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning (on Jesus), leaning (on Jesus), Leaning on the everlasting arms.
My hope is that we can truly reverse the trends of failed marriages – lack of loyalty – the unsettled lifestyles – the lack of Church involvement – and it begins by knowing where our trust is!
Pastor J. T. Carnell