Be Trustworthy

Be Trustworthy

Read: Matthew 25:14-30

“You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

Matthew 25:27

“God will not merely judge us on the basis of what we gave, but also on the basis of what we did with what we kept.”

—Erwin Lutzer

IN WORD What do you do with the things God has given you? Thank Him for them? That’s a good start. But there is more. The parable of the talents gives us clear evidence of what God expects from us. Whatever He has given us, we are to do something with it. If He’s given us much, we are to do much. If He’s given us little, we are to do at least something. If He’s given us nothing . . . well, that just does not apply. In spite of the feeling of many that God has not really blessed them at all, He has. There is always something from His hand that He has trusted us to steward properly.

The gifts of God are not given for us to hoard. They are not even given for us to save wisely. They are given for us to invest. There will always be some risk of loss involved, and there will always be some loss of ownership on our part. But the alternative is for us to take what God has given—time, talents, skills, money, property, relationships, and more— and do absolutely nothing lasting with them. This grieves God and it shames us. Temporal blessings are always to be invested in some eternal profit. That’s what kingdom resources are all about. If we find ourselves lacking in them, we’ve probably failed to use them for lasting purposes. We would have been given more according to our investments. Our urge to “stock up” can cost us everything.

IN DEED Do you see the difference between saving and investing? Saving preserves; investing multiplies. God is interested in multiplying. Since He owns everything already, He is not interested in our preserving what we have. He is interested in our using it for better purposes. We are to invest, to multiply, to see the kingdom expand—even at great risk to ourselves. The Master will return for an accounting. What will you do with His resources today?