Bible Reading: Psalm 33:1-4
For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Psalm 33:4, NIV
“THE COURT CALLS Abraham of Ur to the stand!”
A bearded figure leaning on a tall stick walks slowly to the front of the courtroom. The bailiff swears him in, and the man sits down.
“You are Abraham, originally of the city of Ur?” asks a lawyer in an expensive suit. The old man nods. “You did not always understand the defendant or agree with him, did you?” he asks, pointing to the defense table, where another attorney sits next to an empty chair.
Abraham shakes his head. “No. But there is no friend more faithful. I often let him down-in Egypt, and at Gerar, and many other times-but he never let me down.”
The lawyer calls another witness. A man named Joseph, wearing a multicolored robe, takes the stand.
“You were in trouble a number of times because of the defendant, weren’t you?” the lawyer asks.
“I was in trouble, all right-twice. I was sold as a slave because of my own arrogance. And I was imprisoned because I was wrongly accused of a crime. But he,” Joseph says, nodding to the empty chair at the defense table, “stuck with me through thick and thin. He delivered me from these troubles-he didn’t cause them.”
The lawyer dismisses Joseph and calls a third witness, Jonah.
“Your so-called friend nearly made fish bait out of you, didn’t he?” the lawyer asks.
Jonah answers. “I gave him every reason to give up on me. In fact, when the fish swallowed me, I thought that’s exactly what had happened. But he didn’t give up! He never gives up.” Jonah stands. “My friend-my God-is faithful. Not sometimes. Not most of the time. All the time. He is faithful in all he does. And you wanna know why? Because that’s just who he is. Faithfulness isn’t something he does. It’s who he is!”
Jonah gazes at the lawyer with a mixture of contempt and compassion. “And you, who have brought this case against the God of heaven and earth, cannot truly judge God’s faithfulness, because it is his nature alone that shows you what faithfulness is. And his nature alone shows you that faithfulness is right and unfaithfulness is wrong.”
The lawyer turns away, but Jonah is not done speaking. “If your actions had been like God, your soul would be at peace. But your actions have always been wrong, Judas Iscariot, because you are not like God, who is faithful in all he does.”
REFLECT: If you were called to testify in court about God’s faithfulness to you, what would you say? What evidence would you give of God’s faithfulness?
PRAY: “Thank you, God, for your faithfulness to me.”
