Guarding Against Unfaithfulness

Studying the Word of God can be so cool sometimes.  I am back to reading one chapter a day in the Old Testament and one chapter a day in the New Testament.  And coincidently I am on chapter 9 in both places, 1st Chronicles and Matthew.

Well today in 1st Chronicles this verse jumped out at me. 

1 Chronicles 9:1(NKJV)

1So all Israel was recorded by genealogies, and indeed, they were inscribed in the book of the kings of Israel. But Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. 

You know I like things simple.  Here we don't have to wonder why God allowed his people to be taken away to Babylon.  We know.  God tells us point blank why He did it.  The people were unfaithful. 

After all God had planned for them and after all He had done for them, they were unfaithful.  They didn't follow Him.  They started doing their own thing as it were.  At a certain point God's patience had run out and He said "Away with you!".

But why did he use the word "unfaithfulness"?  Why didn't He say for example "I did it because they were worshipping other gods.".  Why unfaithfulness?

Well then I go to Matthew 9 and I read these three verses.

Matthew 9:2(NKJV)

2Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

Matthew 9:22(NKJV)

22But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

Matthew 9:29-30(NKJV)

29Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 

30And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” 

Here is my conclusion.  I believe the reason God used that specific word, unfaithfulness, was to make the point that faith is extremely important to God's plan.  In fact God's plan fails without faith.  How can I say that?

Simple.  We are saved by one thing and one thing alone.  What is it?  Faith!  Faith that Jesus Christ is exactly who He says He is.  He is the Son of God.  He died for our sins and God raised Him from the dead on the third day. 

Do you believe that?  Have you ever let Jesus know that you believe that by asking Him to be your personal Lord and Savior?  Why not do it right now?  "Dear Jesus……."

But that is just the beginning of the faith walk.  As we can see from the verses above, going forward our answers to prayer and our reward both here and in heaven will in part depend on our faith.  Jesus has said repeatedly your faith has motivated me to act on your behalf. 

See how important faith is? 

So how do we guard against unfaithfulness?  One of the ways is by being in the Word so that God can connect the dots like He did for me today.  Enjoy the journey!