The other day, while driving, I was listening to Family Radio. A sponsorship slot came on advertising a mortgage broker. This advertisement was advertising how if you refinanced your mortgage using their services, you’d be able to save thousands of dollars! That’s right, thousands of dollars! To make it more realistic, they had a husband and wife discussing what they could do with these thousands of dollars. I was intrigued – after all this was a Christian radio station! I was interested to hear what the couple were thinking of doing with all this money, that they would apparently have at their disposal if they used this mortgage broker.
Perhaps they would say things like, “let’s more give more money to the church”, or “let’s sponsor a child in a poor country” or “let’s support a school chaplain or a missionary”. Or perhaps they might say, “let’s cut back on hours at work and spend the extra time with the kids, or spend the time in some sort of ministry activity.” But no, they didn’t talk of those things. What they did mention were things like, “let’s extend the house”, “let’s go on an overseas trip,” “let’s build a patio,” and “let’s buy a new car.” Now I’m not saying that it’s necessarily wrong to do these last things – I certainly hope not as we’re going on an overseas trip soon! But as I heard these responses, I must say I was a little disappointed. You see, when this couple were discussing what to do with this money, they assumed it was theirs, to do with as they wanted. But was it really theirs, to do with as they wanted? All of us have been given not only money, but also time, resources and abilities. Are they really ours to do with just as we please?
Jesus once gave a parable about this very topic. Please turn with me to Luke chapter 19.
We are going to have a look at the parable of the ten minas. No, this is not a parable about ten people who work underground, wear funny hats and look for precious minerals. The type of mina we are talking about was a Greek unit of currency. The parable is found in chapter 19, verses 11-27.
The context of this parable is quite important. This parable is right towards the end of what is known as Luke’s travel narrative. What is known as the travel narrative tells the story of Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. This journey was no ordinary journey. It is not in the same league as our family’s trip from Brisbane to Sydney last December, for instance! No – this was a trip of destiny. It was in Jerusalem that Jesus was to die for the sins of the world. And for the Jews, Jerusalem was not only the centre of Israel – it was the centre of the world. It was the place where it all happened – and where significant things were expected to happen. It was also the place where the Jews expected their Messiah to be revealed.
You see, at this time, the Jews were under foreign domination. The Roman Empire had conquered them and they yearned for independence. In recent times we have seen many peoples struggle for independence – in the 90s we witnessed the breakup of Yugoslavia as the Slovenes, the Croats, the Bosnians and then the Kosovas each fought for their independence. In my wife’s country, what was known as Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia because the Slovaks didn’t want to be under supposed Czech domination. And as I speak, the Americans are having trouble exerting control in Iraq because many Iraqis see them as foreign dominators. It seems to be that people want independence from foreign domination, and they are willing to fight and suffer much for it. The Jews of Jesus’ time were no exception. But unlike the different ethnic groups of today who have no guarantee of success in their struggle for independence, the Jews did have a guarantee. They had it in the iron-clad guarantee of the prophets of the Old Testament, who foretold of a Messiah who would come and deliver them. And the place where He would deliver them, was none other than Jerusalem.
So hopefully then you can see the significance of this journey. Here was Jesus, whom many were rightly supposing was the Messiah. And here He was traveling to Jerusalem. Our parable is located in Jericho, which is only about 30 kilometres – a six hour walk – from Jerusalem.
Right before our parable, we have the account of Zacchaeus, which I will read to give us some sense of the setting of our parable. 19:1 AND He entered and was passing through Jericho. 2 And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zacchaeus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich. 3 And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down, and received Him gladly. 7 And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (NASB)
This account with Zacchaeus, and Jesus’ announcement that salvation had come today to Zacchaeus’ house, would have only increased the expectation of the crowd that something dramatic was going to happen when Jesus entered Jerusalem. In the past, Messianic pretenders had gone to Jerusalem and had unsuccessfully attempted to overpower the Romans. Would this time be different? Would this Jesus overpower the Romans and set up a new kingdom? If so, surely then the crowd following Him would help him in this task!
You can imagine that expectation was running wild among His followers about what would happen when Jesus entered Jerusalem! And we can see that this is in fact what the people were expecting, because in verse 11 it says, “11 And while they were listening to these things, He went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.” (NASB)
The whole point of this parable was to correct some misconceptions. The Jews were rightly expecting deliverance from foreign domination – but they were wrongly expecting political deliverance – and they were expecting it now! Let’s now read the parable itself, and see how Jesus skillfully uses it to instruct us about the real nature of His kingdom, and what our task is in that kingdom.
11 And while they were listening to these things, He went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. 13 “And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’ 14 “But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 “And it came about that when he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him in order that he might know what business they had done. 16 “And the first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, be in authority over ten cities.’ 18 “And the second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ 19 “And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 “And another came, saying, ‘Master, behold your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 “He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 ‘Then why did you not put the money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ 24 “And he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 “And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ 26 “I tell you, that to everyone who has shall more be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 27 “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” (NASB)
In verse 12 Jesus starts the parable. The parable is about a nobleman, who had the right to inherit the throne of the kingdom, but he needed to go away somewhere to actually receive his crown. This might sound a little strange to us, in our modern context of phones, faxes and emails, but back then this was normal practice. Israel at that time was part of the Roman Empire, and a potential ruler had to have his rule ratified by the central authorities in Rome.
In fact, Jesus may have been drawing on a similar incident about 30 years prior to this. Back in 4 BC, Herod the Great died, and his son Archelaus went to Rome to receive authority from Caesar to rule over Israel. Now for Archelaus to get to Rome, it wasn’t just a matter of popping down to Tel Aviv airport and hopping on a flight to Rome to see Caesar! No, the journey to Rome was a long one, perhaps lasting several months. Jesus brings this point across when he says the nobleman went to a distant country – it was going to take a long time for him to get there and then come back. In contrast to the crowd, who thought Jesus’ rule was going to be established immediately, Jesus was saying – no - there will be a delay – a long one. Yes, Jesus is the rightful king. But there will be a delay. His going up to Jerusalem was for a purpose – but not for His kingship to be proclaimed right away. We now know what happened in Jerusalem – He died, rose again, and then ascended into Heaven. He has gone away to the Father – but one day He will return and His rule will be established decisively over all creation. We are currently living in that in-between time. It is also important to note that in our parable, the ruler actually received the right to rule before he returned – and so too, Jesus is the rightful ruler of all creation now - yet we are still awaiting the full outworking of that rule. So Jesus is stressing that there will be delay - not a delay forced by circumstances, but a divinely orchestrated delay, until He returns in His full power.
Now the parable doesn’t just tell us that there will be a delay – which is the time period we now live in – but it also tells us about what we should be doing during that delay! In verse 13 the nobleman calls ten of his slaves. Some of your versions may say servants, but slaves is actually a better translation. However, the slaves of the Roman Empire were different to what we might think of when we think of slaves. Very often high ranking slaves had the authority to trade and act on behalf of their master – to trade in his name. The main difference between a slave and a servant is that a slave is owned by the master. So we see that the nobleman gives 10 of his slaves 10 minas – that is, one mina each. Some of your translations translate mina as “pound”, but this is misleading. In Australia, when we think of a pound, we think of a couple of dollars – but a mina was worth a lot more than a couple of dollars! A mina was equal to a hundred denarius, and a denarius was the day wage of a labourer. That means a mina was worth about 4 months pay for a labourer – in modern terms lets say about $10,000.
So the amounts that were given were reasonable sums – but on the other hand they were not massive sums. It was enough money to be able to do something with. The slaves were commanded to trade with this money. The sense of the Greek here is that they were to be engaged in business with this money, to use for the benefit of the kingdom. The Greek here is the imperative – which means that this was a command from the nobleman – it was not an option. The explicit command of the nobleman was to use the money for trading – for the benefit of the nobleman’s kingdom. Anything else would be disobeying his express command.
So this was the nobleman’s command to his slaves. But not only did the nobleman have people who were on his side – he also had enemies! Verse 14 tells us that his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him – presumably to Caesar – to try and stop the nobleman being made king. So now we see we have two groups. Firstly, the nobleman’s slaves – those supposedly on his side, who have been entrusted with resources for the benefit of the nobleman’s kingdom. Secondly, we have his enemies, who are working against the nobleman, to try and prevent him being made king.
Now can you see the parallel? Of course, in parables, we must be careful not to draw two many parallels. A parable is a story that is used to vividly demonstrate some spiritual truth, so we have to be careful not to try and allegorise every detail in the parable. But certainly, those obvious parallels are there for us to learn from. Here the parallels are obvious – the slaves are those who are somehow associated with Jesus, who in some manner at least, accept who He is and that He is our ruler. On a practical level, for us today, it would be those somehow associated with the Christian church, which I hope includes most of us here tonight.
We have been commanded to go and use the resources God has given us for the benefit of His kingdom. On the other hand, we have those people who refuse to accept Jesus. Not only do they refuse to accept Jesus, they actively work against His rule. These are unbelievers and sad to say, that is most people in the world today.
Lets now see how these two groups fare when the ruler returns. Of course, the parable leaves us in no doubt that the nobleman will return – and he will return as king. For us, there is no doubt that Jesus will return – and He will return as king over all creation. The first group to be examined are the slaves – and they are not treated together, but individually, depending on how well they have used the resources entrusted to each of them.
In verse 16 we learn how the first slave used his mina while his master was gone. He reports that his mina has made ten minas more! That’s quite a dramatic increase – a 10 fold one! Certainly if I new of a fund manager, whom if I put $10,000 with, would give me back $100,000, I’d be quite impressed! And the new king is impressed! In verse 17, he congratulates the slave, “Well done, good slave!!!” Not only does the good slave receive commendation from the king, but he also receives a reward – authority over 10 cities. A mina was a pittance in comparison to a city – yet because the slave had proved faithful in a small thing, he was given responsibility over something much greater. In the same way – what God has given us – our money, time, resources and talents – is nothing compared to the wonderful things He will give us in eternity – but only if we prove faithful with what He has given us now.
In verse 18, we see the second slave had also put his mina to work – and made 5 more.
Not as good as the first slave, but still quite impressive! The master is still pleased and he gives him a reward of 5 cities – a reward in proportion to his stewardship of the mina that was entrusted to him.
Now we as Christians have been commanded by Christ to use what He has given us for His kingdom – and this passage, along with some others, seems to indicate that there will be a reward for us according to our faithfulness to this command. The parable teaches us that there is a large time gap between Jesus’ first coming – 2000 years ago – and His second coming – which is still in the future. This parable is all about stewardship – what we do with what God has given us. The things He has given us – do we keep them for ourselves, hiding them away – or do we use them for His kingdom? Do we use His resources – which He has entrusted into our care – to promote His kingdom?
Let’s now have a look at the third slave’s report in verse 20. This report is not as rosy as the others. Instead of using the money as he was commanded to – that is, to trade with it for the benefit of the king and his kingdom – he disobeyed and stored it away in a handkerchief. Perhaps the slave thought that by storing it away, he was safeguarding it – after all, if he traded with it, there was the risk he might end up with less than what he started with. But referring back to verse 13, we see his instruction was not to store it – but to trade with it. The third slave had blatantly disobeyed his master.
The slave does offer an excuse in verse 21. The slave was afraid of his master. He saw him as a severe man, taking what was not his, and reaping what he had not sown. But is this really what his master was like? The experience of the first and second slaves – the ones who had obeyed their master and traded with the minas – showed that their master was actually generous, as he rewarded them with whole cities for their faithful service. The third slave thus seems to have had a warped view of the master, only seeing him as severe and exacting.
The king now uses the slave’s own words to judge him. Using the slave’s own logic, the king reasons that if the slave thought he was a hard taskmaster, then the slave should have been all the more motivated to put the money to use. Surely, if you think someone is a hard taskmaster, you make sure you do what they tell you to do! If he was scared of losing the mina, he could have at least put it on deposit at the bank and earned interest. It would have been a pretty minimal rate of return, but at least it would be something. It would be a lot better than nothing! And he would have been obeying the nobleman by putting the mina to work, even if it was just minimal work. It doesn’t come across in all translations, but in verse 23, in the Greek, the nobleman actually calls the money, my money – and the way it is written in the Greek emphasises this. It is not the slave’s money to do with as he likes, but it is the nobleman’s money, to do with as the nobleman has commanded! The slave had no right to change the orders he was given. The mina was only the slave’s money in the sense that he was entrusted with it. In the same way, the things God has given us are only ours in the sense that we have been entrusted with them. Our money, our time, our resources – in fact they are not really ours, but God’s. Let us then be careful to do with them what their owner has commanded. Back to the parable - what happens to this slave who disobeyed his master?
In contrast to the commendation of “good slave!” given to the first two, this slave receives the judgement of “worthless slave” - actually a better translation would be “evil slave”, as the Greek word used here has the sense of morally evil.
Now that’s not all! Not only does the evil slave receive harsh words from the king, but the king orders that the sole mina that he has be taken from him – and given to the one who earned the 10 minas! Now maybe you are thinking like the crowd who interject in verse 25 that this is hardly fair – that the slave with the least minas has all he has taken from him and that it is given to the one with the most! That’s hardly fair! And Jesus’ statement of verse 26, - “I tell you, that to everyone who has shall more be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away,” seems to reinforce this unfairness. Where does this fit in to Jesus’ compassion for the poor, the outcast, the oppressed? Of course, if you read this verse out of context, it does seem unfair. But let us read it in context – each of the slaves had been given the same opportunity – one mina. Each slave had been given the same command. Two of the slaves obeyed and put their mina to work. Even though one slave did twice as much as the other, and received twice the reward – they both pleased their master and were accepted by him. But the third one blatantly disobeyed. Even if he had just put his mina on deposit at the bank and earned a little bit of interest, he would still have satisfied his master. But he didn’t even do that.
In the final verse of our parable, verse 27, we see the end result of those who were against the nobleman right from the start. The ones who didn’t want the nobleman to be king and who tried to stop him becoming king. They are killed in front of the king.
This parable is regarded as one of the more complex of Jesus’ parables, and that is because it has several themes running through it. Yet all these themes do work together. Let’s see how these themes instruct us here, today, in Brisbane.
Firstly, as we have discussed, this parable was told by Jesus just before he entered Jerusalem. Many of his followers thought he was about to dramatically set Himself up as king, and bring in the kingdom of God. The parable is told to let them know that - no – there will be a delay.
Well, what has this got to do with us? We know that there is a delay – we know that 2000 years ago, in Jerusalem, very momentous events did occur – but we also know that we still have to wait for the fullness of His reign to be evident – which will happen at the second coming. But like some of Jesus’ more zealous disciples, often we would like to see the fullness of God’s reign established, Now! – and sometimes we can try and make it happen ourselves. There are many ways Christians show this impatience. One is the prosperity doctrine, which believes we should all be wealthy, healthy and happy all the time. In a way the prosperity people have got it right – there will be a time when we will have those things – but they have got the timing all wrong. We have to wait for Jesus to return. Another way we show this impatience is in the area of politics. We would like to see a Christian government, which would enforce Christian morals and ethics, and eradicate social ills like poverty, racism and injustice. Now while we should seek to influence government with Christian standards and ethics, we are being unrealistic if we seek to bring in true Christian government ourselves. History also tells us that: from the Roman Emperor Constantine onwards, and throughout the middle ages, Europe was under so–called Christian government.
Church and state were intertwined. But instead of leading to ideal government, this led to corruption of the church. With sinful humans still in control, we will always fall short of perfect government. Yes – one day, there will be perfect government – but it will not be until Christ returns.
Does that mean we should just sit back, do nothing, and wait for it all to happen? After all, Jesus said He would return, but it would take some time. Shall we just cruise through life, being assured of our future redemption while twiddling our thumbs, until in the fullness of time Jesus returns? Certainly not! Actually, the main point of this parable is exactly this: we are to be busy while Jesus is not visibly present with us. The parable explains that the full expression of Jesus’ kingdom will not come until His return, and it tells us what Jesus expects of us in the meantime. As I said before, in those days, certain slaves had the authority to trade and act on behalf of their master. In the same way the nobleman’s slaves acted on behalf of their master in his absence, so we act on behalf of our master, the Lord Jesus Christ, until He returns. We are to go about His business, in His name. In the same way the slaves were each given resources, to be used to benefit the nobleman’s kingdom – we have been given resources – to benefit our master’s kingdom. In the parable, when the nobleman gave the minas to the slaves, the nobleman still retained ownership of the minas. The slaves were merely entrusted with the minas – they did not gain sole ownership of them. In the same way, there is no such thing as “my money”, “my time”, “my resources” – everything we have has been given to us from God for a purpose. It is actually God’s money, God’s time, God’s resources - to be used for our Lord’s benefit. We dare not change the command that God has given us and use it only for ourselves! And in the same way that the nobleman examined how his slaves had traded when he returned, so Jesus will examine how we have traded with what we have when He returns. Now it comes as no surprise to us that those who were opposed to the nobleman’s rule were killed – and we as Christians know that those who have not believed in Christ, and accepted His rule, will go to Hell. But what about those who are apparently associated with the Christian tradition – but do nothing for the kingdom of God?
Now please don’t get me wrong – I’m not talking about being saved by the works we do. You will notice the first and second slaves are not saved by their trading – it is just that they receive some sort of extra reward because of their trading. This parable is only 17 verses long so it doesn’t contain the whole Gospel! We know from the clear witness of the rest of scripture that we are saved from our sins by believing and trusting in Christ. But in a way that is the whole point here – the third slave – did he really believe and trust in the nobleman?
Did his actions show that he was really on the nobleman’s side? Just before this parable, Luke tells us about Zacchaeus’ conversion. As Zacchaeus is converted his heart is changed – causing him to give away half his possessions to the poor. You see, accepting Jesus is not just about words alone – for the truly converted person, his faith will overflow beyond mere words into the way he lives his life. Did the third slave really believe the nobleman would come back as king? As we have seen, the slave didn’t really know the nobleman. He thought he was cruel and hard, when we see from his gifts of cities to the first and second slaves that in fact the nobleman was quite generous. We also see the third slave did not obey the clear and express command of the nobleman – to trade with the mina! He may have been associated with the nobleman – he may even have been on the nobleman’s payroll – but the nobleman was not really the master – that is the lord - of his life. The third slave’s actions showed that he was not really on the nobleman’s side.
Now we saw that the third slave had his mina taken from him. Does that mean he was still in the king’s kingdom, but just without any money? For us, does that mean that someone associated with the church, but who is disobedient to Jesus, and doesn’t make Him the Lord of their lives, will still get to Heaven, although without any special rewards? Certainly not!
In verse 22, the master calls him “evil slave”! Evil is not a term used for people who will inherit eternal life! Also, the third slave ends up with nothing – the mina he started with is taken from him. There is a similar parable to this one, found in Matthew. It is commonly called the parable of the talents, and in Matthew 25:30, we read of the third slave’s fate: “And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” There is no doubt that, despite appearances, this slave, by his blatant disobedience, and his lack of action for the good of the kingdom, has shown that he is not really on the king’s side. His lot will be the same as those who actively work against the king - damnation. And for the nominal Christian – hell. Matthew 7 verses 20-21 say “So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
What has this got to do with us? Quite a lot actually. This parable says something to every person on this planet. Every person is accountable to Christ, and will be examined by Him one day. Perhaps we can be lulled into thinking that since Jesus has been away so long already, perhaps He’s not coming back. But this parable makes it clear that while the delay will be long – the nobleman has gone off to a distant country – he nevertheless will come back – and when He does, we will be asked what we have done with the resources entrusted to us.
Maybe some of you here are not on the king’s side – you would not call yourself a Christian. You don’t believe Christ is coming back again. I urge you – consider the claims of Christ. Regardless of whether you believe in Christ or not, one day you will have to stand before him.
Not believing Jesus exists won’t make Him go away – any more than not believing a speed camera exists will prevent you from getting a speeding ticket. This parable is only a portion of the whole message of Christ – but the Bible as a whole tells us that Jesus Christ died on the cross as the punishment for our sins – but we must believe this – and make Jesus the ruler of our lives – as the first two slaves did - to take advantage of this amazing offer of eternal life.
In this time period while we await for Jesus to return, we have the opportunity, while we are living, to receive forgiveness from God. Once Jesus comes back, or we die, we loose that opportunity. I urge you to take the opportunity now, while you can, to receive forgiveness from Christ, and to follow Him.
Then again, maybe some of you are just associated with the church. Although you go through the motions, church is just for Sunday. Jesus is not really the lord – the master – the ruler of your life. If that is you – then you are like the third slave, and you are on dangerous ground. Being a member of a church, or even calling yourself a Christian, or just saying the right things is not an automatic ticket to Heaven. To be truly saved, you must trust in Christ and follow Him. I challenge you to make Jesus the most important thing in your life. Use your life – for His kingdom. And I challenge all of us, when we meet people who have a façade of Christianity, to not just assume that everything is okay and they are going to Heaven. Where I work, I know many people who call themselves Christian, but when you ask further questions, you can see that Christ is not really important in their lives.
I’m sure most of know people like that. I encourage you, to warn them – maybe even with this parable! Encourage and compel them to take Jesus seriously – otherwise they will get a big shock to find themselves called, “evil slave”.
Now I hope that all of us somehow fit into the first or second slave category. For you – I do not want this message to be one of condemnation, but one of encouragement. We are saved by grace, but if you are saved, you will want to obey Christ’s command to trade with the things he has given you. And for those truly saved, you will show it in your lives, and you will have nothing to fear when Christ returns. For you, it will be a joyous time as you are congratulated by the Lord.
Now, what exactly is this mina that He has given to us? Some commentators believe this parable actually refers to how we use the money God has given us. The translators of the New American Standard Bible must think this, as the title they have given the parable is: “Parable of money usage”. After all, a mina is money! Also, if we look at the verses just prior to this one, we see that Zacchaeus gives half of his money to the poor as a direct consequence of his conversion. Luke’s Gospel does have a strong emphasis on the rich helping the poor with their possessions, so it makes sense to see this parable as referring to the money Jesus has given to us. But it is a parable, so while I think money is definitely included, I think it is more than just money. God has given us life. He has given us not only money, but time, abilities and other resources at our disposal. What are you doing with these gifts God has entrusted you with? Are you just keeping them for yourself, wrapped up in a handkerchief, in case you might lose them? If you do that – you will surely lose them for they will be taken from you when Christ returns! Or are you using these gifts He has given you for the benefit of His kingdom? Are you seeking to extend the reach of God’s kingdom to more and more people – to those people who currently aren’t in His kingdom? Do you tell other people of the wonderful gift of eternal life God has given to you? Do you work for the values of His kingdom – His moral, ethical, and social values? Do you help those in need, as Jesus told us to do so? Do you work for the benefit of God’s kingdom in other ways, according to your abilities? There are many ways we can do this. The first two slaves each earned different amounts, but both were commended. Each of us has been given different resources, gifts and abilities from God. There are different ways we can use the gifts God has given us to benefit the kingdom. I encourage all of us, myself included, to consider the gifts God has given us – and in obedience to Him, to use them for the benefit of His kingdom. And we can look forward to hearing that commendation of “well done, good slave!” on the last day!
