For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong. Colossians 2:5
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
God’s mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning;
great is your faithfulness, O Lord,
great is your faithfulness.
Tears streaming down my face, this chorus we are singing brings hope for me, I’m at a retreat in the mountains. It’s the first time, I’ve shared the burden I’m caring that everything is not alright in my marriage. You see I’ve been wearing a mask. I didn’t want to ask for prayer because I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. The women at the retreat that spoke to me were steadfast in prayer and bible study.
Beloved, the twenty-fifth characteristic of a born-again believer is one is steadfast. Steadfast’s defined as resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.
Synonyms are loyal, faithful, committed, devoted, dedicated, dependable, reliable, steady, true, constant, staunch,
solid and trusty.
There’s a man in the new testament that’s steadfast one does not hear much about him. He was a servant to Paul. He’s mentioned five times in the scripture. This man studied with Paul, served Paul, and a substitute for Paul. He carried the offering back to Jerusalem and Paul’s personal mailman so he was trusted. His name is first mentioned in Acts 20:4, Tychicus.
He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
Tychicus is Paul’s convert, there were two lines of thinking then, to be a Christian one had to embrace Judaism but Paul said no you do not have to become a Jew to become a Christian.
It’s very difficult to serve God alone, Paul had many constraints so he sent Tychicus to check on his fellow Christians we read of this in Colossians 4:7
Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work.
Paul trusted him to give a positive, steadfast report. In Colossians 4:8 his sole purpose is to encourage, “I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about us, and that he may encourage your hearts.”
Beloved, the twenty-fifth characteristic of a believer is one is steadfast.
I made some rock solid decisions at that retreat about my marriage. One was to forgive my husband so things I had been harboring and holding against him. Paul trusted Tychicus with the money, to preach in his absence, and to encourage others, what has God entrusted you to do? To be steadfast we need daily we need to be reading his word, praying, exploring our role of service.
Father God, Thank you that you’re concerned with the details of our lives. Thank you that you listen to our prayers and you give us women in our lives that we can count on. Help us to be steadfast in our walk with you. In Jesus name. Amen
What do you need to do to add being steadfast to your life?
This post is part of a 31 day series on the Characteristics of a Believer. I am so glad that you are here. To read all of the posts in this series, click here.
