Theme:

Day 8

Fruit:  Faithfulness

Day Verse:

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" --John 15:13, 14

Our English word "faith" is from a Greek word that means faithfulness and loyalty--not faith exercised by the mind.  How can a Christian be so faithful and loyal that she can bear this fruit abundantly?  Through the working of the faithful Holy Spirit who dwells within the hearts of all true believers in Christ (I Corinthians 6:19).  Faith is the foundation of salvation (Romans 10:8-10), but faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit.

Because our Lord is always faithful, and our life comes from Him, He can expect us to be faithful.  We have been singing about His faithfulness and we find evidences of it on every page in the Bible.

How grateful we should be that God's Word, too, is faithful, dependable, and teaches us "sound doctrine"! (Titus 1:9)  Archaeologists are digging up more evidences every year which prove the Bible to be a faithful record.  And nothing will bolster up our faithfulness more than to read in the Bible about our faithful Lord.

"Semper Fidelis" (Always Faithful) is a favorite Sunday school class motto, but it sets a pretty high standard of loyalty.  Jesus told His disciples, "I no longer call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is working out; but I have called you friends, because I have acquainted you with everything I heard from My Father" (John 15:15, Berkeley).  Friends share each other's problems and stand up for one another.  Think of being in on Jesus' confidences with His Father!  Isn't that an incentive to be faithful and loyal to our Savior?

Jesus also told His disciples that He had chosen them for the very purpose that their characters should be fruitful and that such fruit should remain--not be fully ripe and mature one day and shriveled and dried up the next.

An Old Testament verse warns us that there are little foxes that spoil the fruit of the vine (Song of Solomon 2:15).  Hungry little foxes don't bother with shriveled or withered fruit, but go after the grapes that are tender, ripe, and luscious.  If these slippery little creatures are able to sneak in at all, they do great damage!  They prowl about at night when they are not easily seen, and trample upon the branches of the vine in their effort to eat the "tender grapes."  No, they may not eat all the fruit, but they do trample over the branches and spoil both fruit and branches.  And, of course, the grapes at which the foxes have nibbled are half eaten or may even be devoured!

Have you been conscious of the "little foxes" of pride and selfishness stalking your fruit?   Remember, when stalking their prey, sly little foxes approach it quietly and capture it with a quick rush!  Pride is one of the most sly of all sins--it slinks in when we least expect it and nibbles away alarmingly at our faithfulness and at all our other character-fruit, too.  Elfishness, too, is a foxy vice and just as destructive as pride.