Who Can Be Trusted?

   “Can I trust you?” is not a casual question.  It’s a credit to a person’s trustworthiness to not even have to have the question asked of him.  It’s simply known that he can be trusted.  Trust is a precious thing, not something to take lightly.  Marriages stand or fall on the ability of spouses to trust one another.  Careers are made or broken, depending upon how trustworthy a person is.  A person’s word is taken or rejected according to how much trust can be placed in what he says.  Sometimes, lives are placed in the trust of one person or another.

   When trust is extended from one person to another, and then broken, it is a most serious breach.  When someone breaks a trust, it is often quite difficult, sometimes impossible, to regain that trust.  That being the case, we need to take care to live in such a way that our trustworthiness always stands out.  For Christians, trustworthiness should be a visible characteristic, one of those qualities that people can obviously recognize about us because of the fact that we are Christians.  It ought to be one of the qualities of our lives that brings glory to God (Matt. 5:13-16).
   God can always be trusted (1 Tim. 6:17), because He is always faithful (1 Cor. 10:13).  When He set in motion, thousands of years ago, a plan through which He would offer salvation to a humanity lost in sin, He could be trusted to follow through with His plan.  He followed through,  sending His Son Jesus Christ into this world to ultimately die on the cross to pay the debt for the sins of all men.  Jesus established His church upon this earth (Matt. 16:18) as part of that plan, through which the gospel is to be taught (Eph. 3:8-11; 1 Tim. 3:15), the message of salvation (Mk. 16:15-16).  The Lord adds the saved, those who obey the gospel, to the church (Acts 2:47). 
   As long as a Christian remains faithful to God through obedience to His teachings, he is assured of his salvation (Rev. 2:10).  God can be trusted to watch over and protect the faithful Christian in that endeavor (2Pet. 2:9).  There is no question as to God’s trustworthiness.
   There is a question, though, as to how trustworthy many Christians are.  Many have turned to God for salvation, been added by the Lord to His church, but then turned away from God in unfaithfulness.  Excuses are made, other people and situations are blamed.  Assurances are given as to the unfaithful still having faith in God.  But the truth is, while they may have faith, they are not faithful!  In becoming a Christian, they named Christ as their savior.  They put Him on in baptism (Gal. 3:27).  They took His name as their name- “Christian.”  But they don’t live for Christ.  They’re not dedicated to Him, they don’t serve Him, they don’t assemble with His church to worship God.  They’ve broken the trust that God placed in them as they became Christians. 
   God has made a way back for those who have broken His trust in them.  They must repent of their unfaithfulness, pray for God’s forgiveness and again take up a life of faithfulness before Him.  He has promised to forgive such and accept them back into salvation.  God can be trusted to keep His word on this, as well as on everything else He promises.  There is no need for anyone to be lost, especially one who has once become a Christian. 
   Where are you?  Are you trustworthy?  Have you broken God’s trust in you?  Do you need to come to your senses, come back to God and begin again to live in His trust?  Come to Him, trust Him and let Him trust you…