Old Faithful or Losing Your Religion?
All a person has to do is mention the name “Old Faithful” and everyone immediately knows the reference. It is a cone-type geyser in Yellowstone Park that, since 2000, has been erupting every 44 to 125 minutes. This geyser is the most studied in the park though it is not the biggest or the most regular one. Some are bigger. Others are more regular. “Old Faithful” is, though, the biggest and most regular at the same time offering a greater opportunity to study its internal dynamics. The eruptions last anywhere from 1½ to 5 minutes sending steam and water 90 to 184 feet into the air. The Washburn expedition of 1870 is credited with naming this now very popular visitor site.
The name of the geyser befits its actions. The park rangers who watch and the professionals who study the geyser are able to predict the time of the next eruption, according to their numbers on the website, with a 90% success rate of +/- 10 minutes.
Faithfulness and the ability to predict future actions go hand-in-hand. That is what faithfulness is all about. A faithful dog comes home. A faithful spouse stays home. A faithful child remembers home. Faithfulness is not about perfection. Faithfulness is about connection that leads to return. A faithful person who strays in a moment of weakness, if still connected, has a chance to return to a position of faithfulness.
A faithful Christian always comes home when he has strayed. A faithful Christian’s heart always stays home even when he strays. A faithful Christian always remembers home and that is what drives him back home after he strays.
The prodigal son was faithful even in his prodigality. Luke 15:17 records the evidence of this—“But when he came to himself…” His real self was not the one in the pig pen of unfaithfulness, but rather the one back home in faithfulness. It was the connection that is the basis of faithfulness that brought him back again. Maintain that connection and you will always have a chance to return to a faithful place.
There is a statement we often hear people say about themselves when they stray. They say they “lost their religion.” I have heard people say when describing an event making them mad that they “lost their religion” for that moment. They mean that they did something they would not normally do.
Doing things habitually is what it means to do things religiously. A person’s faith guides his actions. His life and habits form his religion. Scripture uses this word in this very way. James 1:26-27, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
Old Faithful does not lose its religion. It has been doing the same thing since it started. That is exactly what faithfulness means. Those who serve God faithfully have a religion that others can see. No one can claim something without following through and be known as faithful. The important thing for all of us is to hold onto what we believe. Do not let any of us be guilty of losing our religion.
— Mike Johnson
