Are You Being Faithful to God?
As believers in God it is our duty to be faithful to what it means to be a Christian. It is our duty to live out the tenants of our faith and let the light of Jesus shine through us. It is our duty to go out and make disciples of men and women. But, how does God measure our faithfulness to Him?
Perhaps we need to break down the word “faithful?” If we look at some synonyms of the word faithful we find: allegiant, ardent, behind one, constant, dependable, devoted, firm, genuine, honest, honorable, loving, patriotic, etc.
But, how about the word “multiply” as a synonym for the world faithful and a determinate of how God measures the word faithful?
In your spare time read the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). This is a story about a man (who represents God), and who gave 3 servants (who represents us believers) talents (money) to multiply while he [the man] went on a journey.
To the servant that the man gave 5 talents, he multiplied them, profiting 10 talents and the man praised him by saying “well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord (v. 21).”
Look and see how Jesus is linking faithfulness directly with multiplication!
To the servant who the man gave 2 talents, he multiplied them and received the same praise as the man who multiplied the 5 talents- that’s in verse 23.
But, the servant that received 1 talent, he buried the talent and thought he was doing the man [his master] a favor by protecting the buried talent. He was simply maintaining the talent. The problem is the last servant doesn’t understand the character of his master. To him, the man rebuked that servant saying: “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You WICKED and LAZY servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.”
Why did the last servant bury the talent? In verse 25 he admits that he was “afraid” and that’s why he hid the talent. As John Bevere put it, “fear will keep you from operating in your gift.”
But still, the man [the master] says to him “you wicked and lazy servant.” Notice how he didn’t call him an outsider, but rather servant. The servant was in his kingdom.
The take away from this parable is from John Bevere, who states: “When it comes to our labor, God views those who multiply as FAITHFUL and GOOD. But God views those who maintain their labor as WICKED and LAZY.”
For those in the kingdom who simply maintain and play it safe, not innovating and multiplying what God has placed in their hands are what Jesus calls: “WICKED and LAZY.” We think maintaining will be ok in the eyes of God. But, we are called laborers (Matthew 9: 37), just like Elijah. When Elisha found him to anoint him to new levels, Elijah was working in the field, behind 12 smelly-yoked oxen plowing- aka working (1 Kings 19:19). When God sees us working hard- multiplying and being faithful, He will elevate us to new levels. Elijah went from plowing to being a respected prophet for the Kingdom.
You + Me = We are to be working. What does that mean? It means sharing Jesus with the lost, encouraging other believes, working in our churches, working hard in our secular and making breakthroughs in our industries, using our gifts and talents to serve our generation, and raising up Godly children.
The first commandment God gave us is to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). It doesn’t mean simply having babies, but it also means to multiply and return the abundance back to God, showing him the fruits of our labor for His Kingdom and His glory.
Happy Friday! xoxx