Honor | Uplift You Today

Hey everyone,

I pray that you have been blessed this past week and are looking forward to an even greater week. It’s been a minute, but I’m back with another post that has been laid on my heart to share. I last left off with discussing the topic of faith and concluding with a guarantee of a part 2. Today, I’ll be discussing my favorite parable and hopefully it will become one of yours after reading:

Matthew 25:14-30

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “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!’

22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “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!’

24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 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.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Lessons/Takeaways:

Verse 15 reminds me of how we are all dealt different hands in life. Some may have more than others and we often wonder why. It’s easy to get caught up in what others possess and their blessings for that matter. You must remember:
- An abundance of materialistic things does not always represent who’s good and bad
- In this verse, the master gave according the abilities of the servant
  - If you have yet to receive something that you’ve been praying for then that is not always an indicator that you may not get it. Don’t give up. God knows what you can handle. Recently, I made a list of long and short term goals. If I fail to reach any of them or accomplish them in the expected time frame then that may reflect simply that I was not ready at that moment. In these times, you have to continue to trust, be obedient, and faithful. Let God be God.
  - Don’t forget to ask yourself that if you receive this “thing”, how will it help bring God honor and glory? When I heard this statement, I had to think about my past requests made to God. I had to admit that I’m glad that he didn’t grant them. If he did, it would have provided temporary satisfaction and would have no impact on the expansion of His kingdom whatsoever. If the Kingdom impact is not obvious, then I would suggest asking yourself how can I use this “thing” for God?

Verses 19-23 shows the effects of taking what you have and building upon it
- It’s true that these men had more than the third. However, you have to remember again they were given their talents or gold according to their abilities.
- When you work hard generally you receive more. I’m certain that these men had to have some above average work ethic seeing that they started off with more than the last and eventually doubled what was given to them.
- Another thing to note is that the master wanted to reward them with more responsibilities for their faithfulness.
  - God loves when you demonstrate faithfulness. When He sees you’re doing what you can and need to then be assured to be given more responsibilities which will yield more opportunities for blessings. Small things matter and can potentially grow into bigger things.

Verses 24-28 shows the downside of not using what you have to produce more for God
- The master became upset for not doing anything of significance with what he had.
  - The scripture doesn’t say he was jealous because the others had more. He just did not have a strong enough desire to even attempt. Laziness. Imagine what the master’s response would have been if he would have actually tried. In my opinion, he could have had a chance to surpass the servant with the most instead of losing his only bag. Yet, it was never a competition to earn the most, but about effort. There will be times in your spiritual journey when you cannot play it safe. You can cause yourself to miss out on blessings by holding back. I know that I have. Put forth more effort, be bold, and desire to have more. Pray for direction because God has a purpose for you.

I pray this post blesses someone and that you have a great day/evening. Having faith in God also requires being faithful with the things he’s given you. Please share, post, discuss, or email. Be blessed chosen people of God.