Editorial—Faithfulness

Hachiko was a dog known for his great FAITHFULNESS to and love for his owner, Eisaburo Ueno, a university professor who was born in Japan in 1923. When Ueno’s daughter gave this dog to her father, he saw that the dog had crooked legs that resembled the kanji number 8, which in Japanese is pronounced hachi. So the professor named the dog “Hachiko.”

Ueno loved Hachiko from the first time he saw him and treated him as a member of his own family. Ueno traveled to work by train every day, and each morning Hachiko would accompany him to the Shibuya train station. In the afternoon Hachiko would return to the train station to meet his master, Ueno, when he returned from work.

Tragically, one day while teaching at the university, Ueno had a sudden cardiac arrest that ended his life. He never returned to the Shibuya train station, but Hachiko continued to wait for him. Every day Hachiko went to the station and waited for hours for his master. The hours turned into days, and days into months, and months into years. Hachiko waited tirelessly for his master for nine long years—through rain, snow, or sunshine—looking for his master’s face among the thousands of passengers and strangers passing by. 

Because of his FAITHFULNESS, people showed much affection and admiration for Hachiko, and in 1934 they made a statue of him and placed it in front of the Shibuya train station where he waited for his master every day. One year later, in 1935, Hachiko was found dead at the foot of the statue, in the same place where he had waited for his master’s return for nine years.

After all these years, the true story of Hachiko—the FAITHFUL dog—is still being told because his love and loyalty have touched many hearts. His legacy lives on.  (https://www.animalwised.com/the-true-story-of-hachiko-the-faithful-dog-1474.html)

Dogs are considered to be one of the most loyal animals and are called “man’s best friend.” Many say that a dog is FAITHFUL to his master because the master is FAITHFUL in feeding and taking care of him every day. This simple story of Hachiko, a FAITHFUL dog, reminds us of how we must stay FAITHFUL to our Master God, who has given us “our daily bread”—even though FAITHFULNESS is a rare virtue today. If an animal can show FAITHFULNESS, how much more should we as human beings also be FAITHFUL.

FAITHFULNESS is the key to receiving God’s blessings. Proverbs 28:20 says, “A FAITHFUL man shall abound with blessings” (KJV, emphasis supplied). So if we wish to receive blessings from God, we have to be FAITHFUL to Him. The Bible has many references to FAITHFULNESS, such as John 15:7, which says, “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” We need to be FAITHFUL:

  1. To God and His Word, following His commands.
  2. To our family. Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” Husbands should be FAITHFUL to their wives, and wives should be FAITHFUL to their husbands.
  3. In managing our FINANCES, especially God’s money. Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house.” Everything we have belongs to God, but He is asking us to return just one-tenth for the welfare of His servants and for advancing His work. God has promised to bless us if we are FAITHFUL in returning His tithe.
  4. In our worship of God through offerings. We give offerings to God regularly and FAITHFULLY not because God wants our money, but because it is a form of our FAITHFULNESS to Him in response to His great FAITHFULNESS to us. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.”

Let us examine our hearts and practices to see whether we have been un-FAITHFUL in any of these areas. But if we want to be blessed, be FAITHFUL in all things. 

Hiskia Missah
Editor

 

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