Always Faithful – Part Three
Galatians 5: 22, 23
The Marine Corps motto Semper Fe is a good one for a Christian in all of life. A spastic, herky-jerky, on-again, off-again fidelity dishonors the Lord, disillusions the world, and depresses the inconsistent doer. Vacillation gives no victory.
Would you dare to be as intolerant of your unfaithfulness as you are of certain other things? Do you apply the same standards to yourself that you expect in other areas of life?
If your car started once every three tries would that be reliable?
If your paper boy skipped every Tuesday and Thursday would he be trustworthy?
If you went to work only three days out of five would you be a loyal employee?
If your refrigerator were to stop for a day or two every now and then would you say, “Oh, well, it works most of the time?”
If your hot water heater were to give one ice-cold shower out of every ten would that be acceptable?
If you missed a couple of mortgage payments every year would the lending agency say, “Well, ten out of twelve isn’t bad?”
If we have such high standards how can we expect God to be less faithful in requiring the upholding of His standards?
Resolve, as did Bill Borden, to obey Christ. Borden was an outstanding athlete at Yale, the heir of the Borden Company fortune, when called by God to be a missionary among native Americans. After serving among them for a short time he developed consumption and died at a young age. He abandoned a life of luxury for the role of a servant. The entry in his diary the evening before his death reveals his dedication. It reads simply: “No reserve, no retreat, no regret.”
Having no reserve and no retreat caused him to have no regret. We can spare ourselves a lot of regrets tomorrow if our today self will have no reserve and no retreat from a high standard lived under our own banner of SEMPER FE.
We are to be good stewards of all of life, not just our finances. Stewardship involves managing the possession of another. The New Testament illustration of stewardship is of a person who is entrusted with the keys to one’s house. Giving a person the keys to your house means trusting them with everything you have.
“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (I Cor. 4:2). That is reasonable. Who would want to turn over the keys of their house to an unfaithful person? Yet, that is what our Lord has done for us. He has made us stewards of His house. That doesn’t just include possessions, but our personality, mentality, and physical being. Regarding all we are to be SEMPER FE.