Well Done Good And Faithful Servant

Matthew 25:14-30

Wasted opportunities.  How many of us can look back through our life and see a time where we had an opportunity to do something for the Lord, but failed to do so?  Today’s Gospel reading is another Kingdom parable Jesus told, and illustrates the tragedy of wasted opportunities.  The parable tells of a master who is leaving on a trip, and before he goes, he gives some talents (a monetary unit of the day) to three servants, expecting them to put it to good use and earn something for him when he returns.  The first two servants take the talents and make good use of what they were given.  The third servant hides his, doing nothing with it, and returns it to the master as is, having gained nothing for him.  He ends up receiving the master’s just judgment.  Jesus uses this story to illustrate God’s kingdom, where God is represented by the Master, and believers are represented by the servants.

As we study this parable we see in verse 15 that the master divided up the money according to the worker’s abilities, giving them not more nor less than they were capable of handling.  If they couldn’t handle it, it was their fault.  God gives us talents and gifts according to our abilities, too.  He expects us to use those abilities wisely for Him.  We should not be worried about what God has given us compared to others.  We should only concern ourselves with how well we use what we have been given.  The diligent servants put their talents to good use, and have much to give the master when he returns.  However, the lazy servant does nothing with what he was given, and has nothing to show when the master returns (vs. 16 - 19).

When the master returned, he called all of the servants and wanted to see what they did with what they were given.  The same will happen when Jesus returns.  He will ask each of us what we have done for Him with what we were given.  God wants us to use our time, our abilities, and whatever He has given us to serve Him in whatever we do in our life (vs. 20 - 21).  

The reward that the Master (Jesus) gives to the faithful servants is based on their faithfulness, not on the quantity of the results of their work for Him.  The servant who was given two talents was rewarded equally to the one who was given five talents (vs. 20 - 23).

Now let’s look at the lazy, faithless servant.  The Lord and Master gave him one talent.  Even though it was less than the others, he was still expected to do something with what he was given.  Instead he just hid his talent and returned it back to the Master when He returned, having done absolutely nothing with it.  We should not make excuses for not doing what God wants us to do.  He is the Master, and we should willingly obey Him.  He is the One who has given us all our abilities, our money, everything.  They are God’s to begin with.  When we ignore or abuse what He’s given us, we’re rebelling.

The slothful and lazy servant was condemned by his own words (vs. 24 - 28).  If he really believed that the master was the type of person that he said he was, then he really should have been more diligent in working for him.  God rewards those who invest their time and talents in serving Him.  He rewards faithfulness.  Those who squander their talents cannot be rewarded (vs. 29 - 30).  God has immeasurable blessings for those who faithfully serve Him.  Those who are lazy and bury their talents are clinging to what the world can offer them, and in the end they lose everything they have.  Jesus, the Master, calls for faithfulness from His servants.  Faithful servants are also fruitful servants.  A fruitless servant is not a true servant, but instead a hypocrite.

How are we investing for God the gifts and abilities He has given us?  The words I most want to hear from Jesus when I stand before Him one day are those in verse 21 - “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I pray that you have enjoyed and benefited from these Bible meditations that I have written for this blog.   I hope you will prayerfully consider donating as the Lord might lead you.  This blog is not run through a large ministry with a wide funding base.  I am an individual with limited financial resources.  Thank you and God bless.