FAITHFUL

One of the most tragic events during the Reagan Presidency was the Sunday morning terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, in which hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded as they slept. Many of us can still recall the terrible scenes as the dazed survivors worked to dig out their trapped brothers from beneath the rubble.
A few days after the tragedy, I recall coming across an extraordinary story. Marine Corps Commandant Paul X Kelly, visited some of the wounded survivors then in a Frankfurt, Germany, hospital. Among them was Corporal Jeffrey Lee Nashton, severely wounded in the incident. Nashton had so many tubes running in and out of his body that a witness said he looked more like a machine than a man; yet he survived.
As Kelly neared him, Nashton, struggling to move and racked with pain, motioned for a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote a brief note and passed it back to the Commandant. On the slip of paper were but two words -- "Semper Fi" the Latin motto of the Marines meaning "forever faithful." With those two simple words Nashton spoke for the millions of Americans who have sacrificed body and limb and their lives for their country --
those who have remained faithful.
J. Dobson & Gary Bauer, Children at Risk, Word, 1990
Are we “forever faithful” or conveniently faithful? Are we faithful to God no matter what or just faithful when it’s convenient? Do we remain faithful when temptation strikes, when we are alone, when no body will know but us? Do we remain faithful when our friends or coworkers are around and we think that we have to save face? Or do we find ourselves doing the same things that we promised ourselves and God we would not do? We must be faithful all of the time, no matter what. No matter what someone else says or does, we must put Jesus first...always. Revelation 14:12 says, “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” (NIV)
We must remain faithful to Jesus!!