Recently I have been thinking a lot about faithfulness and reflecting on what God’s word clearly says about the importance of faithfulness. I will just share a bit of what I came across. 1 Corinthians 6:20 states, “ You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship.” Both of these verses make it clear that we are not our own. Our lives belong to the one called and redeemed us; the one paid the greatest price for us. Our response is to be one of living for him and serving him. All that we do is to be for him and his glory. I heard a message recently wherein the pastor preached on how God is the owner and we are the managers of our lives. Just as in any company the managers will have to “report” to the owner and give an account for how they spent their time, the company’s money and how they managed the responsibilities they were given. It is the same with us; we will one day have to give an account on how we spent our lives, our time, our money, our talents and giftings. All were given to us by the “owner” How are we managing what responsibilities he has given us? How are we “spending” our lives?
I Corinthians 4:2 says, “Now it is REQUIRED that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” And what does it mean? REQUIRED- something that is required is not optional, is not extra credit; this is a big deal to God. What has God entrusted to you? Are you faithful in what God has called you to? Are you faithful in this season even if it’s not what you want or if things are not the way you would like them to be? Where you are right now is where God has you. Are you content in that? Are you serving him where you are? Or are you complaining and saying, God, I want______. If I had a spouse, if I had a better job, a child then I would be happy and then I could serve you better. How are you managing what God has already given you? If we can’t be faithful in the “little” things God has called us to do how can we expect him to entrust us with more? The other thing we need to remember is that God does not expect perfection from us. But one thing he does require is faithfulness.
Matthew 25:14-30 reads, “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 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.’ “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!’ “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.’ “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!’ “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. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “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? 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. “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 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. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
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