Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, first posted on October 13, 2013, is written by Pastor Sam Lee who leads Catalyst Agape Church in Northern New Jersey.

 

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Not Working Harder, but Being More Faithful”

Matthew 25:24-25

“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.’” 

This passage can easily be interpreted that the Parable of the Talent is a lesson on hard work, that when we work hard, practice daily, and discipline ourselves, God will reward us. Working hard is certainly valuable, and we all should work hard, but I don’t think this passage is talking about that. Here, the master tells the servant with the one talent that he didn’t even have to work hard; he could have just deposited the talent.  The problem was something else. The problem with the servant with the one talent is not lack of hard work, but rather, a lack of faithfulness. 

If it is about hard work, we lose motivation depending on what we have. If you were the one who got five talents, you would be much more motivated to work hard, while if you received just one talent, it would seem so unfair, and might do the same thing, hiding it in the ground. But if it is about faithfulness, than it would not depend on who got more and who got less. As a matter of fact, faithfulness is really shown in the little things and not in the big things. 

In front of many people, we can act all holy and spiritually mature, but true faithfulness is shown in the little things. Is there holiness and spiritual maturity when no one is looking? We can talk about how we will support the church and missions financially when we get rich, but are we being faithful with the little money we have today? We can talk about loving the people in Africa, but are we able to love our wife, our child, and the church members today?

Let’s not wait to be faithful. We don’t have to wait until we go on a short-term missions. We don’t have to wait for the right sermon or wait for someone else to change. We can practice faithfulness right now.

Prayer: Lord, help me not to be the servant with the one talent who did not see the great value of the talent.  Help me to see things that are valuable in my life, because they came from You, and appreciate them and use them to yield eternal fruits for Your kingdom.  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 13-14