and settled accounts with them”
{Matthew 25:19} (NIV 1984)
Whose servant am I? Have I not bowed my knee before the Lord Jesus Christ? Did I not give Him myself, everything I have, all that I am? On the day that I saw my need, my need for a Saviour, I knew I was going to die. I knew I needed salvation. So I bowed before the Saviour, I asked Him for forgiveness and salvation. I told Him that I wanted to serve Him, that I wanted to please Him.
My friend, know this truth! No one receives Jesus as Saviour without serving Him as Lord, and no one serves Jesus as Lord without receiving Him as Saviour. Saviour and Lord, Lord and Saviour! Our Lord explains to us in this parable our relationship as servants of the Master. Before He goes away for a long time, He gives us a trust according to our ability. That is He made us, He chooses us, He gifts us, and He gives us a trust expecting a return. It is for our good that He goes away. His Spirit is with us; our works prepared before the creation of the world are laid out before us, our robes of righteousness are laid out before us, waiting for us to pick them up and put them on.
There is no mention of any risk of losing the trust. The Master knows His servants and does not seemed concerned in the least that they would lose His money. Actually the words the Master uses as he settled accounts, tells us that He considers the trust to be a small thing, a test of sorts, a harbinger of something bigger and better in store. All the servants needed to do was put the money to work. Just put it in play. We can see that the test is not in the type of investment made, but in the willingness of the servant to put it to work. Two servants put the trust to work at once. The third servant despised the Master’s trust, hid the money so that it was no good for anything, and then blamed the Master’s character for his own lack of faith. We wonder at the darkness, what does that mean theologically, etc. Whatever the punishment is that servants receive at the Bema seat, the worst punishment of all will be our Lord and Saviour who died for us, looking at us and saying you wicked lazy servant!
Oh Heavenly Father, we pray, be gracious to us, constrain us by your Spirit to faithfully put your trust to work.
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