Stewardship: using the resources we are given
Read Matthew 25:14-30
A man is going on a journey, so he asks his servants to care for his property while he is away.
- What guides him in how he distributes his money? (verse 15)
The servants with five and two talents use what they have been given and double them, but the servant with one talent buries it in the ground.
- Why does this servant not use the talent he was given?
The master judges the servant on his own words. If he knew that his master harvests where he hasn’t sown, he should have banked the money so that he could have given it back with interest. This servant was given very little. He also chose not to use what he was given. He is judged by his attitude in choosing to ignore what he is given – even though it is very little in comparison to what the other servants receive. His master calls him a wicked, lazy servant and he is thrown out into the darkness.
The two servants who used what they’d been given well, go to be with the master and share his happiness. Because they were faithful with a few things, they are put in charge of many things.
- To whom does the earth and everything in it belong? (Exodus 9:29; Deuteronomy 10:14; Psalm 24:1, 2)
Everything that we have comes from God. He trusts us to care for what he gives us (Genesis 2:15; Genesis 9:3) and to use it well (1 Peter 4:10).
- What has God given you and how are you using it?
Rose Robinson worked with MOPAWI in Honduras for four years as a Tearfund International Personnel Worker.