Matthew 25:29 - Stewards of God

"To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away." (NLT)

This verse is found at the end of the parable of the talents. This parable is quite well known and contains deep and profound insights into the character of God and to the life of a Christian. In this post, I hope to help you understand what I believe is the most important part of this parable.

Just to quickly summarise this parable: a man is leaving to go on a long journey, so he entrusts what he owns to his servants, he gives a portion of his wealth to each of them based on how much he thinks they can handle effectively. After a long time, the master comes back and asks for each of his servants to tell him what they did with his money. Two of the three servants invested the money and doubled it, but the third servant hid the money and returned it to the master the same way he had received it. The first two servants were rewarded, but the third servant was punished. The money that the third servant had hidden away was given to the first servant while the third servant was sent away into darkness.

Just like the servants in this parable, God has given every one of us a gift, a talent, a passion, an opportunity, etc. God has entrusted these things to us and he expects us to use them well. In this post, I want to talk about what happens based on what we do with what God has given us.

Firstly, I'm going to talk about those who invest and develop what God has given them. These people know that what they have is something that they have been entrusted with. God gives us many things throughout our lives, but he expects us to use them well and not to waste them on things which ultimately have no value. This doesn't mean that we can't use them to obtain money or possessions, but it does mean that our main purpose is to use them to glorify the name of Jesus. When you use what you have for God's glory, you will be rewarded with even more, and we know that God gives abundantly, far more than we could ever need.

My second point is significantly more troubling but it is far more important. The people who belong to the first category are already on the right path and will probably benefit very little from reading the above paragraph, but it is the second group of people that I fill compelled to talk about and it is the entire reason that I am writing this post. As I have said, God has entrusted us with numerous gifts, talents, etc. But if you are entrusted with something and then don't honour the one who gave it to you, you shouldn't expect a reward, nor should you expect them to entrust you with anything else.

God gives to all, both the believers and the unbelievers, but he expects us to use those gifts in a way that he would approve of. If those gifts aren't used in a way he would approve of, he will take them back and entrust them to someone else who will use them well. I want you to understand that, if we continue to be complacent, if we continue to ignore and/or misuse what God has given to us, one day it will be taken from us and we will be left with nothing.

And don't let yourself be deceived into thinking that you have nothing and therefore no responsibilities. If you have a job, speak to your workmates and strive for them to know Jesus. If you have friends who don't know Jesus, strive to tell them about our wonderful Saviour. Even if all you have is your life, this too is a gift from God and you can use your time to bring glory to him.

To conclude, let me provide an illustration that I pray will help you to understand this verse. Say your boss has asked you to do something, a little while later he finds out that you haven't done it. He gets annoyed at you and once again tells you to do the task. The next day he finds out you still haven't done the task. After a little while longer, he will fire you for being complacent with what he had entrusted you to do. He will promote someone else to your position and they will reap the rewards that were meant for you. In the same way, God has called each and every one of us to accomplish something, but if you are lazy and don't do the work you have been assigned, God will call someone else to accomplish your task, then he will reward them and you will see them reap the benefits of what God was calling you to do.

Remember, we as Christians are not called to do anything for our own glory. All that we have, and all that we are, is to be used to glorify the name of Jesus.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you for all the amazing things you have given me, and I ask that you forgive me for not being a good steward of these gifts. I thank you that you are merciful and I ask that you help me to use these gifts for your glory, and not for my own. Amen.