Are you being faithful?
Matthew 25:14-30
“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. 15 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 five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “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.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Jesus gives us this parable so that we can see our need for personal preparation for the coming of Lord Jesus. Additionally, it serves as a template for us to see if we are being a faithful or unfaithful servant to the Master. In these verses we see that two were prepared and faithful, while one was unprepared and unfaithful.
The meaning of faithful from the Merriam Webster dictionary:
1. steadfast in affection or allegiance: referring to loyalty. As in, a faithful friend
2. firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty: referring to being conscientious. As in, a faithful worker
3. given with strong assurance: referring to a binding act. As in, a faithful promise
The talents in these verses represent something of value, which relates to everything that God has entrusted to you, whether it be your job, home, children, money, and most importantly; the things you do for His kingdom. Are you being faithful?
God has given each of us stewardship over many things and He expects us to show a profit when Christ Jesus returns. Now that profit is not how much you have grown your bank account or how large you have grown your family, but it is in how you have profited the Kingdom of God:
• Have you raised your children to worship and honor God?
• Have you spoken to anyone about Christ Jesus?
• Have you used your skills, abilities, and material possessions to serve in your church or community?
That is where the profit is: pointing souls to Christ Jesus.
From these scriptures we can see that God gives to us only what our abilities can handle. And also notice that each servant was not expected to produce the same results: the servant with one talent was not expected to produce five, the one with two was not required to produce two more, and likewise for the one with five; but there were to show some gain from the task given them.
So, we see that God will not place a burden upon you that is greater than you can stand. For Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:30 that His yoke is easy and His burdens are light. 1 John 5:3 reaffirms what Jesus says:
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Being faithful should not be a heavy chore, because you are in dwelled with the Holy Ghost to give you strength, knowledge, wisdom, and power to do good works for the kingdom.
Notice in verses 24 & 25 in our opening verses how the one servant went and hid the talent in the ground because he misjudged the character of his master and was afraid. Like some of us we are also afraid of the Master and misjudge His character, not realizing how generous He truly is, and how He wants us to also experience the joys of service. Jesus came to this earth to serve and left us instructions on how we should serve others. And when He left, much like the lord in our parable, we are not left empty handed. Are you being faithful?
Faithful service does not mean that you will always succeed, but that you must try! Scripture tells us that Jesus did not always win everybody that He encountered, much in the same way that we will not win everybody that we encounter. But we read that Jesus always extended the invitation. Should we be doing anything less? This can be illustrated by viewing a running race, where all runners race for first place, but only one of them can win first prize. Regardless of where the runners are in the race they continue to run faithfully, knowing that even if they do not get first prize, they ran faithfully and finished. Paul uses this illustration in telling the Corinthians to continue faithfully in following the Lord:
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
1 Corinthians 9:24
Verses 29 & 30 lets us know that because of our faithful service we will be given much more, while for those that prove unfaithful, what they have will be taken away and given to another and they will be placed in outer darkness, away from the presence of the Lord. Because of our faithful service much will be added unto us, increases in our gifts, greater ability to serve, and just all-around abundance in everything we do for the Master.
Psalms 31:23 tells us:
Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.
Proverbs 28:20 tells us:
A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
Matthew 10:22 tells us:
And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Do you apply the same standards of faithfulness to your Christian activities that you expect from other areas of your life?
• If your car starts once every three tries, is it reliable?
• If your paperboy skips delivery every Monday and Thursday, is he trustworthy?
• If you don’t go to work once or twice a month, are you a loyal employee?
• If your refrigerator stops working for a day or two every now and then, do you say, “Oh well, it works most of the time”?
• If you miss a couple of loan payments every year, does the bank say, “Ten out of twelve isn’t bad”?
• If you fail to worship God one or two Sundays a month, would you expect to be called a faithful Christian?
We expect faithfulness and reliability from things and other people. Does not God expect the same from us? The problem is that in our religious activities we see ourselves as volunteers rather than as duty bound. For a volunteer, almost anything seems expectable. For a bondservant who is duty bound, faithfulness is expected.
Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing."
Matthew 24:44-46
Chinese officials from the Public Security Bureau invaded a Sunday school room at a church in early 2005. They found thirty children inside and herded them into a van. Despite the scary situation, one child started to sing. In a few moments, all the children were singing.
Upon arrival at the police station, the children marched bravely into the interrogation room, still singing to the Lord. The Chinese officers attempted to force the children to write, “I do not believe in Jesus,” telling them that they had to write it a hundred times before they would be released. Instead, the children wrote: “I believe in Jesus today. I will believe in Jesus tomorrow. I will believe in Jesus forever!”
Exasperated, the officials called the children’s parents, some of whom renounced Christ. However, one widow refused to deny Jesus when she came to pick up her twin sons. The officers threatened her, saying, “If you do not deny Jesus, we will not release your sons.”
She replied, “Well, I guess you will just have to keep them, because without Jesus, there would be no way for me to take care of them!”
The exasperated officials said, “Take your sons and go!”
