Faithfulness (4)
Faithfulness can turn the most menial job into a vitally important one. For example, think about how dependent we are on something as small as a postage stamp. It’s always ready for service. It goes wherever it’s sent. It does whatever it’s asked to do. It sticks to the task until it’s done. It doesn’t give up when it’s licked. It stays up to date. And it finds no job too small. We weren’t all born with equal talents; some of us are more gifted in certain areas than others. But every one of us was born with an equal responsibility to utilise his or her abilities at full capacity. That’s the most any of us can do, and it’s what God, who gave us our talents, expects us to do.
200 years ago, when the U.S. Marine Corps was first formed, officials gave considerable time to coming up with a fitting motto. They finally chose the Latin phrase semper fidelis, a phrase now engraved on the mind of every Marine. What does it mean? ‘Always faithful’! Both are important words, but the most important is the first one: always. Why? Because a Marine can’t afford to be faithful only when it’s comfortable or convenient, or when they feel like it, or when it will make them happy. Semper fidelis means you must always be faithful – regardless of the cost. God wants to be able to say the same thing about you as is said about Him: ‘Great is thy faithfulness.’ So whether you’re a boss, an employee, a father or mother, a husband or wife, a friend, a teammate, or a Marine, the word for today is – always be faithful.