True Loyalty – April 13, 2003
At the beginning of the last week of His life, the Lord entered into Jerusalem amid waving palm branches and shouts of adulation. He made His triumphant entrance riding upon a colt over the carefully placed clothing of believers.1 In His honor the great multitude cried, “Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”2 With celebrating crowds and pleas for deliverance, the Lord was surrounded by devoted followers who looked to Him for rescue and salvation. But He was the only one who knew of the loneliness ahead; He alone understood that some of those who stood with Him one day could reject Him the next. Just days later, His mortal life would end on the solitary, cruel cross of Calvary.
Sometimes, when all is well and friends abound, the tide can turn, people change, and, it seems, in an instant we’re alone. Once we reveled in the support of friends; now we feel abandoned. We look around for those who will stay with us through thick and thin. Many among us have felt the shallowness of the crowd, the fickleness of fans. The athlete who is cheered on one play, is booed the next; the actor who wins the critics’ acclaim for one role is vilified for the next. At times it may seem that no one can be counted on for long.
Fortunately, most of us know true loyalty because we’ve experienced it. If not, we can sow seeds of loyalty. We can be more trustworthy and reliable, welcoming these virtues into our lives. Loyalty and all its associated qualities are to be cherished and nurtured: We can be faithful to family, friends, and others in good and not-so-good times. We can be steadfast in our devotion to truth. We can be fair and treat people mercifully. In word and deed, we can be loyal not only to those who are present but also to those who are absent.
Far from the pulsating, fickle crowd is One who slumbers not nor sleeps3 as He watches over us. His love is perfect, His fidelity unsurpassed. Quietly, and with unwavering loyalty, we can let Him in.
Program #3843
1 See Matthew 21:8, John 12:12-19.
2 2 John 12:13.
3 See Psalm 121:4.