Matthew 25:24-30 MSG
24-25 “’The
servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and
hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error.
I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured
your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
26-27 “The master was furious. ‘That’s a
terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I
was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could
have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I
would have gotten a little interest.
28-30 “‘Take the thousand and give it to the
one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on
a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’”
This story actually has two sides. Starting on verse 19 of
Matthew 25 (not written here) we see there is the side of the two first servants which, when brought
to give an account of what they had done with what was entrusted to them, were
found to have taken the necessary risks and had multiplied what was given to them
according to the standard of the Kingdom of God. But in this post, we are going
to focus on what happened with the servant who did not take the necessary risks
and played it safe instead.
Verse 24 explains this mentioned standard in the New King James Version which says, "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." Here we see that because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, He can decide who sows towards something and who gets to reap it. And when we understand this standard, we rejoice when we sow with those who reap from what we sowed.
John 4:37-38 also describes,
37 "For in this the saying is true:‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.'”
However, Amos 8:13-14 explains what happens when those who sow work together with those who reap: restoration happens and things that fell into ruins can be rebuilt.
13 13 "The Lord says, “A time of great blessing is coming.
Workers will still be harvesting
when it is time to plow the fields again.
They will still be trampling the grapes
when it is time for a new crop.
Sweet wine will drip from the mountains
and pour from the hills.
14 14 I will bring my people, Israel,
back from captivity.
They will rebuild the ruined cities,
and they will live in them.
They will plant vineyards
and drink the wine they produce.
They will plant gardens and eat the crops they produce." ERV
Verse 24 explains this mentioned standard in the New King James Version which says, "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." Here we see that because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, He can decide who sows towards something and who gets to reap it. And when we understand this standard, we rejoice when we sow with those who reap from what we sowed.
John 4:37-38 also describes,
37 "For in this the saying is true:‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.'”
However, Amos 8:13-14 explains what happens when those who sow work together with those who reap: restoration happens and things that fell into ruins can be rebuilt.
Workers will still be harvesting
when it is time to plow the fields again.
They will still be trampling the grapes
when it is time for a new crop.
Sweet wine will drip from the mountains
and pour from the hills.
14 14 I will bring my people, Israel,
back from captivity.
They will rebuild the ruined cities,
and they will live in them.
They will plant vineyards
and drink the wine they produce.
They will plant gardens and eat the crops they produce." ERV
But going back to the unfaithful servant in Matthew 25, he thought he was doing the right thing by holding on to the talent, gift, provision, or position given to him on behalf of others, but little did he
know he was acting presumptuously and as the Scripture says, ended up doing
less than the least. This can be translated to something that hopefully will
open our eyes to the realities of the standard of the Kingdom of God for us. We
are called believers and those who are predestined to walk in His ways. To explain further, we all have a book of
destiny written about us.
This book mentions the plans and purposes of God for us
as well as how, when, and in which way we are to fulfill our destiny on earth. But
whether we know it or not going against the grain of the Kingdom of God creates
a vacuum for us. In other words, not walking in alignment with God and the
principles of His Kingdom that we learn to apply in our lives as we spend precious time of intimacy with Him so that we can be positioned when the what, where, how, and when to fulfill our destiny comes, can cause
continual disobedience to His mandates for us.
The sad part of this is that there are people that have been faithful to God and to the advancement of His Kingdom for many years until one particular and persistent disobedience can derail them to the point of finding their destiny altered because it was edited away from its original intent. We can see this in 1 Samuel 2:27-30,
27 “Then a man of God came to Eli and
said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to
the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did
I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon
My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not
give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel
made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at My
sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to
make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My
people?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of
Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your
house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now
the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will
honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.” NKJV
When things have been stolen from us by the enemy, with
God’s help we can see them restored to us and even multiplied because we did
not desist in pursuing what God said is ours. This is different than when we
have gone astray from the path of righteousness and refuse to go back. When we
are warned time and again to turn from our wrongdoing and refuse to, we can
end up being expelled from the place we were originally called to occupy with
no way to return again. Ezekiel 3:20-21 illustrates this,
20 “’Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness
and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die;
because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his
righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will
require at your hand. 21 Nevertheless if you warn
the righteous man that
the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because
he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.’” NKJV
As we know this is what happened to Adam and Eve after they disobeyed the one mandate of God to not eat of the fruit of the tree He had said to not eat from (Genesis 2:16-17). Daniel 4:34-35 discloses to us God's stand as our God, Creator, Ruler, and Lord. Something King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn for himself as he spent seven years in the wilderness of testing because pride was found in his heart and he claimed his accomplishments and power to rule as something he got without giving glory to God for them for it is He who gives us power to obtain them so we can fulfill His mandate for us and our generations. It says,
"God rules forever!
His kingdom continues for all generations.
35 People on earth
are not really important.
God does what he wants
with the powers of heaven
and the people on earth.
No one can stop his powerful hand or question what he does."
As we know this is what happened to Adam and Eve after they disobeyed the one mandate of God to not eat of the fruit of the tree He had said to not eat from (Genesis 2:16-17). Daniel 4:34-35 discloses to us God's stand as our God, Creator, Ruler, and Lord. Something King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn for himself as he spent seven years in the wilderness of testing because pride was found in his heart and he claimed his accomplishments and power to rule as something he got without giving glory to God for them for it is He who gives us power to obtain them so we can fulfill His mandate for us and our generations. It says,
"God rules forever!
His kingdom continues for all generations.
35 People on earth
are not really important.
God does what he wants
with the powers of heaven
and the people on earth.
No one can stop his powerful hand or question what he does."
But the Bible warns us in Isaiah 51:1 to look to the
rock from where we were hewn down and to the hole of the pit from which we were
dug because we choose to follow after righteousness. This signifies that God
always wants us to go back to Him and to the path from which we have gone astray. The enemy sends his demonic cloud of confusion and distractions that
keep many away from the right path in his attempt to derail them from their
destiny. But God never ceases to call them back to Him.
The Lord, who is Jealous of our devotion and sole worship
of Him still looks to and fro for those who will return to walk faithfully with
Him. So while the things that were lost because of the derailment and
misalignment with His will and His way may not return in the same way,
once we return to the right path even though it is narrow and uphill, we can be
assured to see how He will restore us and enlarge us again not only in our
territory but in our influence and capacity to receive more of Him and the
riches and goodness of His Kingdom.
This happens because we pursue the glory that was lost in
our lives. We have said in other posts that Adam and Eve could not have their
glory restored and instead lived the rest of their lives toiling and sweating
to obtain what they once received because they walked under the glory cloud of
God continually. Thus, if we choose to return to God and His ways, we can be
assured to see the glory of God restored in our lives when we complete God’s mandate in the process He chooses for us to walk towards that manifestation.
To Him alone be all the glory. ▪
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