DEPENDABILITY
“And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”–Genesis 18:17–19
I read about a man who was preparing to leave for an important business trip when he realized that one of his suits was badly in need of cleaning. Remembering that there was a cleaners with a huge “One Hour Dry Cleaning” sign, he drove across town to drop off his suit. As he filled out his ticket, he told the clerk, “I’ll come back in an hour on my way to the airport to pick this up.” “Oh no,” she said, “It won’t be ready until next Thursday.” Somewhat taken back he pointed out the sign hanging over the door. “That’s just the name of the business,” she responded. “We don’t do dry cleaning in an hour!”
Though it is true that our character is even more important than our reputation, it is still important that we maintain our testimony. It should never be truly said of a child of God that he or she cannot be counted on to do what is right. Others should learn from their interactions with us that we live up to our “advertising” in terms of our lives matching what we say we believe.
The best way to develop a reputation for dependability is to simply do what we say we will do—over and over and over again. Each of us should desire to have the reputation of Abraham, as God described him as a person who could be trusted to do what was right. Each day you either enhance or detract from your reputation as someone who can be relied on. (Daily in the Word)
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
