Luke 19:17
And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
Truth: It matters not what you have, but what you do with what you have.
In the parable in Luke 19 we have the story of a rich business man who is temporarily leaving his business matters in the hands of ten of his associates. He is going to receive more riches in another kingdom far away. While he travels he leaves a each of the ten servants a gift (the gift would illustrate to us today as skills, talents, seed money for investment, etc.). Each of the men get one mina. A mina was worth about three months wages. This is not a lot of wealth for them but it illustrates to us that we are each responsible for whatever God gives them. When the man returns he wants to know what the men did with the gift they were given. We have to remember that the gift they were given was never their gift. It was always the master's gift. It was their responsibility to do something with the gift. Upon the return on servant had translated the one mina into ten. That translates into quite a sizable profit. The man takes three months of wages and converts it into enough wages for 2 and 1/2 years. . The above passage shows the pleasure of the rich man over what the first servant had done. He was rewarded according to his work. The second man took the one mina and turned it into five mina (1 and 1/2 years of wages). Even though the second man was only able to convert the mina into one-half what the first man did, they both received the a commendation. The first received 10 cities for his reward. The second received 5 cities. Neither man had any city when he started. Both men were given the same gift. They were rewarded for what they did with the gift. The gift was not there own, but they now were rewarded with cities of their own. A third man in the story did nothing with his mina (remember, ten men were given the gift of one mina ... we are only told about three of them ... there may have been others who did nothing with their mina, as well). This man, because he feared the ruler, simply buried the gift and did nothing with it. His own words condemn him since he feared the ruler. The ruler takes the one mina he has and gives it to the one who had produced the ten minas. Jesus add to this teaching the following:
Luke 19:26
‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
The principle taught in this story needs to be viewed based upon the introduction of the story. Note how chapter 19 begins:
Luke 19:11
As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.
Jesus is telling them that He is going away and there will be a delay in His return. While He is gone (securing His kingdom) we are to take the gifts He gives us and use them in a way that will bring more glory to Christ. Those who use their gifts in a way that will glorify Christ, will receive more gifts. We will receive more gifts in the proportion we use the ones Christ gave us. However, those who simply sit on their gifts and don't use them for Christ will see their gifts taken away and given to others more faithful. The truth is that it matters not what Christ gives you but what you do with it that matters. Being faithful to use the gifts Christ gives us is the key to being assured Christ can use us for more work ... work others have neglected in their service.
No comments:
Post a Comment