“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
God wants his people to be faithful (2 Chronicles 16:9), but aside from that, God also wants his people to be fruitful.
In Matthew 25:14-30, the Lord shared a parable about a man who entrusted his wealth to his servants. He entrusted five bags of gold to the first servant, two bags to the second, and one bag to the third, and he went into his journey . The man who had received five bags of gold went to 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.
When the master came back after a long time, the servants presented the wealth back to him. He said to the two who were able to multiply his wealth “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 25:21,23). But to the one who hid his money in the ground, he said, “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.” (Matthew 25:26).
It starts with Knowing the Master
All of the three servants are faithful, but what made them different from each other is the way they knew their master. You might have observed that the master did not give any instruction to trade his wealth, or do anything to multiply them. But the first two servants know what is pleasing to him.
The last servant knew his master as a hard man who harvests where he has not sown and gathers where he has not scattered seed (Matthew 25:24) and was afraid of him (Matthew 25:25). Because of this, he wasn’t able to bring joy to his master and he was condemned (Matthew 25:26-29).
Faithfulness is Not Enough
Being faithful is easier said than done but being able to claim that we are one is not the end of the journey. Our great Master wants us to go beyond faithful and pursue fruitfulness. He will be very delighted to see that we are able to use whatever blessings, gifts, or talents we have, allowing us to enter His joy. Real faithfulness yields fruits that are visible in your daily walk. In 1 Peter 4:10, the Lord says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”. We may have different ways of doing it, but we are serving the same master and in all of those, He works in us also (1 Corinthians 12:5). The Lord explicitly said in John 15:16, “ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.“.
You are Equipped to be Fruitful
The usual question is, “Can I really be fruitful?”. I am telling you that the answer is a big YES! In the parable, the servants did not start empty-handed – the provision came from the master. From the very beginning, you were blessed with gifts for a purpose. You may see that your gifts maybe different from others but all were designed to bring joy to the master by using them with the provision from God himself as in 1 Peter 4:11, “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ…”.
Know that the Lord already empowered you for a life of service (Ephesians 2:10) and he will be with you in the process. He has entrusted you with gifts for the purpose of using them and it goes with a promise… “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” Isn’t that exciting?
Talk it over:
- What gifts do you have?
- How do you think can you make use of these gifts in your current situation to please the Lord?