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Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV)
“Again,
it will be like a man going on a journey, who
called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another
two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went
on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put
his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of
gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole
in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of
those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had
received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you
entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master
replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a
few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your
master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he
said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been
faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and
share your master’s happiness!’ “Then
the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that
you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you
have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the
ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked,
lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where
I have not scattered seed? Well then,
you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I
returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘So take the bag of gold
from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given
more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have
will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them (NIV)
- The Lord has entrusted His most valuable possession to me and it is nothing less than His very life. I am a Steward of the Life of Jesus!!!! It is a trust. I must understand it and place the highest value on it
18
“But the man who received the $1,000 dug a hole in the ground and hid the money for safekeeping. (LB)
- What the Lord has committed to me is NOT for safe keeping. The kingdom labour is Not about keeping this Christ life; it is about multiplying it.
- We are not doing ourselves or our Master any good by carefully hiding what He has entrusted us with.
- God is in the ‘business of multiplication. He ‘sowed’ His only begotten Son and has been reaping a harvest of ‘Sons’ ever since. Jesus’s ministry was a ministry of multiplication of men who carry His life - He started with 12, who had become 120 by the day of Pentecost. These 120 became at least 3,120 that day and multiplied further. (Acts 6:1 & 7)
- Why is this multiplication important to God? The more ‘Christ Life’ carriers there are, the more the life that is light will transform nations by dispelling darkness. This is why Jesus said in John 12:24 (MSG), “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over”. This multiplication was God’s plan from the beginning.
- This is why as a steward of the Christ Life, I cannot resort to just safe keeping it with a view to handing it back to the Master just as He gave it to me. A steward who does this, the Master considers as a ‘wicked and lazy’.
24-25
(MSG) “The servant given one thousand
said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you
demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so
I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound
down to the last cent.’
24-25
(Living Bible) “Then the man with the
$1,000 came and said, ‘Sir, I knew you were a hard man, and I was afraid you would rob me of what I earned, so I hid your
money in the earth and here it is!’
24-25
(AMP) “The one who had received one
talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and
demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where
you did not scatter seed. So I was
afraid [to lose the talent], and I went and hid your talent in the ground.
See, you have what is your own.’
- The 3rd steward, crippled by fear, did nothing with what his master entrusted to him. Fear is often the reason for not putting in the effort required to multiply the Christ Life in us.
- The above translations highlight three main reasons for this fear-
- Fear of disappointing the Master- the fear of not meeting up to His standard
- Fear of losing what is produced as a fallout of the Christ Life in us
- Fear of losing what has been entrusted to us by the Master
- The master did not acknowledge nor address this fear at all in his response to this steward.
- Fear indicates an absence of faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).
- Wicked and lazy servant:
- Wicked because he failed to understand his master’s mission and the value of the trust bestowed. What is the value of the Christ Life I carry? It cost my Master His life, His deity, His innocence and dignity!
- Lazy because the steward made no effort at all. One definition of lazy- ‘disinclined to work or exertion’. Too lazy to pray, too lazy to give what is required to disciple another, too lazy to exercise faith in God!
- Actually, there’s no need to be afraid. What has been entrusted to us by our Master, His very life, has its own inherent ability to reproduce and multiply. All that is required of me is faithful action.
1
Corinthians 4:1-2 (KJV) – “Let a man so
account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of
God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
1
Corinthians 4:1-2 (Phillips Modern English)- “You should look upon us as ministers of Christ, as trustees of the
secrets of God. And it is a prime requisite in a trustee that he should prove
worthy of his trust”
1
Corinthians 4:2 (MSG) – “We are guides
into God’s most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them”
1
Corinthians 4:1-2 (Good News)- “You
should think of us as Christ's servants, who have been put in charge of God's
secret truths. 2 The one thing required
of such servants is that they be faithful to their master.”
1
Corinthians 4:1-2 (AMP) – “So then, let
us [who minister] be regarded as servants of Christ and stewards (trustees,
administrators) of the mysteries of God [that He chooses to reveal]. 2 In this
case, moreover, it is required [as essential and demanded] of stewards that one
be found faithful and trustworthy.”
- I am a steward, a trustee and administrator of the Christ Life.
- I am a steward of the mysteries of God, the mystery of the gospel of Christ
- I am not a security guard posted to protect this life by hiding it away in a safe place.
- It is required, as essential and demanded, that stewards be faithful.
Prayers
- Lord, thank You for taking the risk to entrust to me Your precious life. Thank You for choosing to reveal Yourself in my earthen vessel.
- Lord, help to understand that what You have placed in my life is a trust so that I do not mismanage or abuse it. Lord, let the responsibility of my stewardship dawn on me daily.
- Lord, help me to deal with fear by walking in faith in this stewardship. Help me to know that this stewardship is a walk of faith. Don’t let the devil cripple me with fear.
- Help me to see that Your life in me is not meant to stop with me. Lord, let me see beyond myself with eyes of faith and see what You see. Help me to understand that You are looking for multiplication of disciples out of Your life in me. Make me a fruitful branch for You.
- Lord Jesus, my old life has been nailed to Your cross when You died. Please declutter me quickly of laziness- a disinclination towards work and exertion. Don’t let me a lazy servant in this stewardship. I carry Your heart now, Lord, so I cast off laziness in every form. I bring sincere repentance for every sluggishness and laziness. It is not part of my new life.
- Help me to understand that both Your life in me and the produce of it ALL belong to You. Don’t let me be like that 3rd steward who did not multiply because he was afraid that his master will take his profit. Lord, help me to understand that I have nothing to claim as my own in this stewardship.
- Lord, help me to be counted as faithful to the stewardship You have entrusted to me. Let me be a faithful steward of Your life in me. As a faithful steward, Lord, let Your life in me produce total commitment, dedication and surrender to Your kingdom’s cause.
- Lord, raise up for Yourself faithful stewards in these our days. Raise up stewards who understand Your heart for multiplication of correct lives and are diligent, committed and totally dedicated to Your kingdom. Lord, raise them up in homes, families, churches, government establishments, prisons, schools, colleges & universities, in nations and in all tribes and tongues.
Grace,
Thy Grace Alone
Grace! Thy grace alone
Has
brought me into Thy will,
Stranger
and Alien I had been
'Till
grace brought me so nigh.
Grace, Thy grace alone
Is all I plead for
Grace to serve Thee
aright Lord,
O! Grace to love thee
more.
‘Tis
grace that teaches me
Thy
path for me to know
And
Grace day by day leads me on,
My
call not to let go.
I
long for this grace Lord,
To
be faithful a steward,
To
lay my all down for the Church,
Till
her glory bursts forth.
Make
me a battle axe,
Kept
Lord in thy quiver,
Tried,
Trimmed, sharpened in thy furnace
Meet
for my Master's use.
Ira
D. Sankey
