07.23

God's Faithfulness and His Promises "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)"

Previously, we reflected upon God's ability in conjunction with His promises. The
capability of the one making promises is strategic when promises are made. When relating
God's ability to His promises, we have full assurance that He can fulfill what He has
promised to do. "Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your
great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. Behold, I am the
LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?" (Jeremiah 32:17, 27). Our
Lord created all the universe, and He is ruler over all of humanity. Surely, He is able to
fulfill all of His promises.

Now, we have another issue to consider: faithfulness. When promises are made, faithfulness
is just as important as ability. It is vital to know that the one promising is not only
able, but is also reliable. In our present verse, we are given reason to exercise
unwavering confidence in God, based upon His faithfulness. "Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

In the book of Hebrews, we are given a recurring call to stand firm in the hope of the
Lord. To participate more and more in the reality of being God's spiritual household here
on earth, we are to confidently embrace throughout our pilgrimage the hope that is
available in our Lord: "whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the
rejoicing of the hope firm to the end" (Hebrews 3:6). To fully partake of all that is ours
in Christ, we are to persistently cling to Him by faith right up to our last days on
earth. "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast to the end" (Hebrews 3:14).

Our present verse also stresses persistent faith in the hope of the Lord. "Let us hold
fast the confession of our hope without wavering." This persistence of trust in God is
related to His promises and His faithfulness. "For He who promised is faithful." We can
cling tightly to the promises of God. We can confidently hope in God's fulfilling His
promises to us. We do not need to waver in doubt, because God is reliable. He is
trustworthy. He is faithful.

"Dear God of faithfulness, how delightful to realize that my persistence of faith in You
hinges on Your faithfulness toward me. I see that I can continue to depend upon You,
because you are fully faithful to me. What expectation this gives me as I consider Your
great promises! You will be faithful to fulfill every one of them, as I place my trust in
You!"