ESOCS Devotional 5 May 2024 – Accountability in God’s Service
MEMORY VERSE: “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.”Matthew 25:21 KJV
TEXT: MATTHEW 25:14-30
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘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 your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “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. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
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Following the conclusion of His earth-bound ministry, Jesus ascended to the right hand of God in heaven, and to receive glory, dominion and a kingdom that all people, nations, and tribes should serve Him (Daniel 7:13, 14; John 14:2-3). But before His departure, He had told His disciples that they shall receive power, following the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them. This empowerment would enable them to witness for Him all over the entire world (Acts 1:8).
In Ephesians 4:11-12, He ordained some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, to enable them function effectively in ministry. In 1 Corinthians 12, we see the diversities of spiritual gifts to believers in a bid to equip them for God’s service.
In our text, Jesus used the parable of the talent to refer to the same empowerment for His service, pending His return to take account of people’s performance. He has called those He has claimed to Himself, that is those who had identified themselves by their submission to His will, to be His servants. In this context, the talents were given according to capability of the individual to perform in its use. It follows therefore that God expects receivers of the various abilities or gifts to exercise use of what they can do in His service. In other words, God expects every individual to give himself in His service according to what he can do. Hence, spiritual gifts or talents are given in diverse measures.
In response to the will of the Master, the five-talent man made another five; while the two-talent man made another two. Needless to emphasize here that they were blessed and honoured accordingly. But the one-talent man, who in his lazy attitude would not do any work, was cursed and cast into outer darkness.
Our conclusion here is that when one accepts the responsibility of servant-hood, as a subject of the Kingdom, then he is duty-bound to respond to the wishes of the Master (1 Corinthians 15:10). Even those who are “one-talent” servants must do something for the Lord, in order to be honoured alongside others. Accountability is an essential element in God’s service. In God’s project, the emphasis is not on how much. It’s rather on doing; just doing something to the glory of the Father. Let’s take heed to ourselves.
- In Kingdom business, the emphasis is not on how much, but how committed. Do you agree?
- Lord Jesus, give me the grace to honour you with my talent.
Further Reading: Deuteronomy 28:1-14; 1 Kings 6:1-14; 2 Peter 3:8-13
ESOCS Devotional 5 May 2024
