A new thought struck me as I was reading the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), the one servant did nothing with what had been entrusted to him because he knew, he believed, the master to be a hard man, so out of fear he hid his talent then went on with life as usual.
The Bible doesn’t say what the other two servants impression of their master was. Did they know him to be hard, or merciful, full of grace, forgiving, kind? Did their view of the master allow them freedom to take a risk in doing something with what had been entrusted to them, not fearing potential failure? Did the fact the master trusted them to begin with encourage them to improve upon who they were or what they had? The parable also does not tell us if the two servants had all success or were their ups and downs, failures and slips, along the way to finally show an increase in the end.
What we do know is the third servant let fear stop him from doing anything with what he had, which led me to the question – what is my view or core belief of God, and does it affect what I do? The later part, does it affect what I do, I’m certain is a resounding yes. What is my core belief of God takes a little more in depth pondering, as I’m guessing it does for all of us at times, and we all need to do periodic internal checkups.
What do we let fear stop us from doing with what the Lord has given us? What talents, abilities, gifts, wisdom, etc… lay buried under fear or other excuses and reasons for doing nothing?
If our view of God is not of Him being a good Father we need to change our wrong thinking. I admire Apostle John’s view, he didn’t just love Jesus – he knew he was loved – by Jesus, he referred to himself as the one whom Jesus loved. Can we, without question, say we know we are loved by Jesus and the Father?
Knowing we are loved empowers us to step out. We have each been given something from the Lord that we are responsible to steward; it takes us from an ordinary life to an abundant life in Him. Let’s not despise small beginnings, as we steward well the one thing more will be added. Do we all not long to hear the words one day “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.” Matthew 25:23.
The joy of the Lord starts with our relationship and a right view of the Master. Is it time to change some of our thinking; to be about using what He has given us and open to see where it goes?
Beyond the Silver Coin 