Job 34-35
Acts 15:1-21
“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are entrusted with a role in His kingdom expansion throughout the world. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells a parable about being faithful with what we have been given. He says, “…a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey” (Matthew 25:14-15). From the… parable, “the master” is Jesus, “the journey” is Jesus going to prepare a place for believers in His Father’s house and “the servants” are those who have been entrusted with wealth to carry out the master’s purposes while He was gone.
Note that it is not the servants’ wealth that they possess, but the master’s wealth, which is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Each servant is entrusted to steward that wealth—the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After we have placed our faith in what Christ has done for us, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and deposits spiritual gifts within us that are meant to give us the power and the presence to carry out the purposes and plans of the Master.
As a result, “The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money” (Matthew 25:16-18). The parable highlights two types of people: a good and faithful servant, and a wicked and lazy servant. A good and faithful servant is someone who is “not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16). They take every opportunity to talk about who Jesus is because He is the power of God to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. The wicked and lazy servant, however, suppresses the truth of the gospel and exchanges it for a lie. How is that possible? It is entirely possible, in fact, it even showed up in Jesus’s earthly ministry: one of the people listening to Jesus tell this parable was Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
All this begs us to look at our own lives and ask, are we treasuring what has been given to us and putting it to work around us? Or are we burying it because we do not know who the Master truly is?
Lord Jesus, thank You for entrusting me with Your wealth—Your Holy Spirit—to carry out Your purposes and plans. Help me to treasure and put to work what You have given me and not bury it away.
Acts 15:1-21
“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are entrusted with a role in His kingdom expansion throughout the world. In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells a parable about being faithful with what we have been given. He says, “…a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey” (Matthew 25:14-15). From the… parable, “the master” is Jesus, “the journey” is Jesus going to prepare a place for believers in His Father’s house and “the servants” are those who have been entrusted with wealth to carry out the master’s purposes while He was gone.
Note that it is not the servants’ wealth that they possess, but the master’s wealth, which is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Each servant is entrusted to steward that wealth—the gifts of the Holy Spirit. After we have placed our faith in what Christ has done for us, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and deposits spiritual gifts within us that are meant to give us the power and the presence to carry out the purposes and plans of the Master.
As a result, “The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money” (Matthew 25:16-18). The parable highlights two types of people: a good and faithful servant, and a wicked and lazy servant. A good and faithful servant is someone who is “not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16). They take every opportunity to talk about who Jesus is because He is the power of God to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. The wicked and lazy servant, however, suppresses the truth of the gospel and exchanges it for a lie. How is that possible? It is entirely possible, in fact, it even showed up in Jesus’s earthly ministry: one of the people listening to Jesus tell this parable was Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
All this begs us to look at our own lives and ask, are we treasuring what has been given to us and putting it to work around us? Or are we burying it because we do not know who the Master truly is?
Lord Jesus, thank You for entrusting me with Your wealth—Your Holy Spirit—to carry out Your purposes and plans. Help me to treasure and put to work what You have given me and not bury it away.
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