“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!’ ” Matthew 25:21 (TNIV)
Jesus’ parable of the three stewards talks about bags of gold that the master gave to his servants for safekeeping. But when praising the servant, the master uses the word things rather than specifying the bags of gold—he’s praising the servant for being faithful with the responsibilities given to him, not the money given to him.
Jesus has given me many “things.” I have my job, which I love. I have my husband and family. I have my marathon running, which I recently started. I have my work with the church youth group. None of these requires gold so I never equated them with the things the master talks about in the parable. But then I realized that he didn’t specify gold. He praised the servant for being faithful with a few things.
I started being more faithful and responsible with what Jesus has given to me. I strive for more discipline and efficiency at work. I try to more deliberately love my family. I am faithful in my running routine and will schedule around it when I can. I give 110 percent to my youth group.
And Jesus started blessing me even more. I got more responsibilities at work. My family dynamics are stronger. I’m getting better at my running, and my youth group work has expanded to college students too. My life is full of “things” I love.
Faith step: What has Jesus given to you? How can you be more faithful with those “things”? Pick three of them and work on being more faithful with those “things” this week.
