Exhortation Station

I’ve been pondering the idea of being “faithful with little” this week.

Let’s begin with Yeshua’s Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. In this parable, a man entrusts his servants with his possessions before going on a long journey. To the first servant the master gives five talents, to the second he gives two, and to the third servant he gives one talent. The servants who had received the five and two talents doubled the sums they were entrusted with, for which the master says to each of them, “Well done, good and faithful slave.” The third servant, on the other hand, buried his single talent in the ground, for which the master commands him to be thrown into the outer darkness.

There is a lot that could be said about this parable. In this post, I would simply like to highlight the master’s response to the two faithful slaves.

Matthew 25:20,21
“The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'”

A similar set of verses in Luke reads as follows:

Luke 19:16,17
“The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.'”

Likewise, Yeshua says the following in Luke 16:

Luke 16:10,11
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. ¹¹ Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?”

(Note: In this context, it appears “unrighteous wealth” is simply a reference to physical money.)

Do you ever wrestle with thoughts such as, “What is my calling?” — “What am I supposed to be doing for the Kingdom?” — “Am I doing enough?” While I do not know what particular works Yahweh has for you to do, I do know He calls us to be faithful with little. Should we ask Yahweh to direct our future? Absolutely. While doing so, let’s not miss whatever unique opportunities are before us right now. Let’s not forget vision for the present.

I think we humans have a tendency to always be looking for “the next big thing” that will solve all our problems, answer all our questions, and put to rest all our uneasiness. We get tired of plodding along, step by step, mile after mile. We don’t want to trudge through the sand, two steps forward, one step back. We want to leap from mountaintop to mountaintop. We want to feel we’ve accomplished something major — something groundbreaking — for the Yah’s Kingdom.

While looking for the next thing, we sometimes forget to complete the current thing with excellence. Perhaps Yahweh will not reveal the next thing to you until He sees you have been faithful with the current thing. Maybe there are lessons that are absolutely critical for you to learn before you are entrusted with greater responsibility. Maybe cleaning the grocery store bathrooms is the key to developing the work ethic needed to be an effective laborer in God’s harvest. Maybe bringing food to the elderly woman across the street will prepare you to bring food to widows in Africa. Maybe standing for truth in your workplace will open a door to proclaim truth in the courtroom. Maybe sharing your faith with a friend will develop the humility needed to share your faith with a broader audience. Maybe you need to climb the current hill before you’ll be able to see the next hill.

Though this walk toward the Celestial City may at times feel a little monotonous, that doesn’t mean it is fruitless. Whatever you do, do it heartily and righteously (Ecc 9:10, Col 3:23). Soak up whatever lessons you can along the way. Shine the light. Leave no loose ends. Finish the job. Faithfully steward a few things, that you may be put in charge of many things.

(Bible passages NASB 1995 translation.)

For some related thoughts, I invite you to check out a previous post, Finish the Job.