Daily Devotions

Matt 25:14-29 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

The phrase “Well done” is not all that common in the Bible. It is found only four times, two of them in our reading today. That phrase is also found in Acts 10 where Peter takes the gospel message to the Gentiles, and in Philippians 4 where Paul gives thanks for the church sending gifts to him to meet his needs. There are very few things in the Bible that is said of them “Well done”. In our text we find that said of two of the three servants of that certain Lord or master. What separated them from the one? Was it the talents received, was it the Lord, what separated the two from the one? The first thing I would draw your attention to is the faithfulness of the two. Each gave of his best to the master, each gave an honest effort, each was faithful in the task they had been given. The reward of hearing “Well done” did not rest on results, but faithfulness. After all, the one that gained five had more than two times to offer his Lord than the one that gained two, he brought 10 while the other brought only 4. But they both heard those beautiful words from the master, they were both faithful in their service. This is what our Lord looks for in His servants today, faithfulness. Not many will see an influence around the world, not many will win thousands upon thousands to the Lord, not many will do things that will be noticed, but all can be faithful. That simple faithfulness is what the Lord looks for in us today. Yet how many are faithful? There is a verse in Luke that gives us the answer to that question.
Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Are you faithful?

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2013 at 5:39 am and is filed under Daily Devotions. You can skip to the end and leave a response.