ICS Daily Devotions
Faithful Stewards
Matthew 25:14-15, 24-25 (NKJV) “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey… “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
Although Jesus was teaching about the kingdom of heaven, He was using this earthly parable to teach us the truth of being good stewards of what He has given us. It is the grace of God that He has entrusted us with our blessings on earth. The first two servants must have loved their master and were appreciative of the grace shown to them, and surely, the master would have loved all of them to do well in the test given to them.
Unfortunately, many servants are behaving more like the third servant who hid his talents in the ground because of his unwillingness to do something with what was entrusted to him. He had a wrong image of the master whom he thought was only interested in the fruit of their labour. He forgot that no harvest would have been possible if the master had not given him the seed for sowing. He couldn’t see the graciousness, love and the wonderful plan that the master had for him, and he wasn’t willing to do more than what was required of him. He was full of himself, had the couldn’t-be-bothered attitude and was even sarcastic in his report to the master. There was no acknowledgement of the Lordship based on his actions, nor did he feel he needed to be accountable.
Likewise, we are blessed with resources from God. The key is whether we acknowledge God’s graciousness, love and plan for our lives by making Jesus the Lord of our lives and stop living our lives for ourselves. Let’s not be like the third servant, but take stock of and make adjustments in our lives to ensure that we are living out the calling of God on our lives. Moreover, let’s trust God as the source of our finances and operate in His financial principles. We are Christ’s representatives on earth. Besides providing to us through our job, God expects us to use His resources to show forth His love with good works, like what the three servants were expected to do—to invest the money over and above ploughing, sowing and reaping from the land. The Lord is more concerned about the kingdom of heaven while looking after our needs on earth. The talents given to us are to increase the fruit of our righteousness which will lead to the spreading of the Gospel and the strengthening of the church.
Sermon Series: Faithful Stewards (Talents)
