Faithful in Little, Rewarded Much - Luke 19-20

Luke 19:20-26 (ESV Strong's)
20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 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.

Faithful in Little, Rewarded Much

The above story is taken from a parable of Jesus.   Both Luke and Matthew record the same parable.  The parable begins by Jesus telling of a rich nobleman who gave ten servants ten mina (worth about three months wages for the common man):

Luke 19:12-13 (ESV Strong's)
12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

Upon the nobleman’s return, he calls the servants to give an account of what they did with his gift to them.  This is undoubtably a picture of Jesus giving His followers/believers His grace to use for His purpose.   The first two servants give an account of investing their mina in a way that produced more.   They are counted as good and faithful servants:

Luke 19:17-19 (ESV Strong's)
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.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

But when a third comes (Luke uses the term “another” meaning not like the first two, but of another type), he is less impressive.   We see that rather than even simply take the mina he was given and put it in the bank to collect interest, he does nothing but hide it in the earth.   Instead being rewarded with “more” he is striped of even this gift and given less.   One lesson in the story is easy to grasp.  Those who are true followers of Christ will take the gifts they are given and use them for God’s glory.  They will make more out of them by their faithfulness.   Those who are simply going through the “act” of faith, will neglect, ignore and, even waste what they say they have.   Another lesson and truth in the story is to realize that God sees what we do with the gifts He gives us and wants to reward us.   There are rewards for the people of God.   Those who honor what God gives them will get more grace from God to accomplish more for God.   Spiritual growth works this way.  The more we are obedient to the faith God gives us the more faith He supplies. The more we are using the gifts God gave us the more God expands the gift in our lives.   He said it to the first servant:

Luke 19:17 (ESV Strong's)
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.’