(Jesus said) "... 'Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.'" Revelation 2:10b

Faithful. By definition, the word "faithful" means to be "consistently trustworthy and loyal."

By that definition 17-year-old Stacey Irvine is a very faithful young lady.

You see, although she admits to having an occasional French fry with her boyfriend, Irvine only eats chicken nuggets. Since she was two years old she has only eaten chicken nuggets. Although I'm not a mathematician, that's 15 years of chicken nuggets.

Yucch!

Considering her diet, from the outside Irvine doesn't look any the worse for wear. On the inside, it's a different matter. Recently, she was taken to the hospital after she had struggled to breathe and then passed out.

Irvine's mom says, "The doctors told Stacey in no uncertain terms that she will die if she carries on like this." Now that's a problem since faithful Irvine maintains she can only eat chicken nuggets (and the occasional fry.) Hearing that kind of flawed reasoning her mom says, "I'm praying she can be helped, before it's too late."

I hope so too.

Now there is a reason why I bring Stacey Irvine to your attention.

She is proof that most people are faithful in following something. Some folks are faithful to watching a TV program, others to following their favorite football team, yet others to having a clean house and at least one person is faithful to eating only chicken nuggets.

Most people, even you, are pretty faithful to something or somebody.

The trick is to find something or somebody worthy of your faithfulness.

Chicken nuggets may be a grand thing but, when all is said and done, they are still chicken nuggets and, therefore, cannot be expected to produce much in the way of a long-term benefit or great advantage to its faithful followers.

On a greater or lesser scale, the same can be said about almost everything else in this world that people follow. By that I'm referring to movie stars, political candidates, music idols, etc.

Almost everything and everybody else makes hollow promises to people -- almost everybody. You see, in Jesus we have the exception to that rule.

When Jesus says something, you can take His words to the bank. If He says, "Be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life," He means it. If He says, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble" (see Psalm 50:15), you can be sure His deliverance to your disastrous day is on its way.

So, before this devotion closes, let me ask, what thing or person in this world do you love as much as Stacey Irvine loves chicken nuggets? I'll let you fill in that blank.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, this world has produced many things that falsely claim rewards and benefits toward those who follow. Today we ask that You will send the Holy Spirit, so they may reject that which is wrong and ridiculous and embrace the Savior, who is worthy of our faithfulness. In His Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 8-10    Luke 4:1-30

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