This morning, we continue our series on “The Parables of Jesus.” We will seek to glean “Pearls from the Parables.”
Before we get to the parable, let’s look at a scripture we have been looking at all year. This is something I believe the Lord wants us to meditate on.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us.
(Matthew 25:14-30 TPT)
14 “Again, heaven’s kingdom is like a wealthy man who went on a long journey and summoned all his trusted servants and assigned his financial management over to them. 15 Before he left on his journey, he entrusted a bag of five thousand gold coins to one of his servants, to another a bag of two thousand gold coins, and to the third a bag of one thousand gold coins, each according to his ability to manage.
16 “The one entrusted with five thousand gold coins immediately went out and traded with the money, and he doubled his investment. 17 In the same way, the one who was entrusted with two thousand gold coins traded with the sum and likewise doubled his investment. 18 But the one who had been entrusted with one thousand gold coins dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.
19 “After much time had passed, the master returned to settle accounts with his servants. 20 The one who was entrusted with five thousand gold coins came and brought ten thousand, saying, ‘See, I have doubled your money.’
21 “Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. Because you have been a faithful steward to manage a small sum, now I will put you in charge of much, much more. You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you, “Enter into the joy of your Lord!” ‘
22 “Then the one who had been entrusted with two thousand gold coins came in and said, ‘See, my master, I have doubled what you have entrusted to me.’
23 “Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. Because you were faithful to manage a small sum, now I will put you in charge of much, much more. You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you, “Enter into the joy of your Lord!” ‘
24 “Then the one who had been entrusted with one thousand gold coins came to his master and said, ‘Look, sir. I know that you are a hard man to please and you’re a shrewd and ruthless businessman who grows rich on the backs of others. 25 I was afraid of you, so I went and hid your money and buried it in the ground. But here it is–take it, it’s yours.’
26 “But his master said to him, ‘You’re an untrustworthy and lazy servant! If you knew I was a shrewd and ruthless business man who always makes a profit, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? 27 Then I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. 28 But because you were unfaithful, I will take the one thousand gold coins and give them to the one who has ten thousand. 29 For the one who has will be given more, until he overflows with abundance. And the one with hardly anything, even what little he has will be taken from him.’
30 “Then the master said to his other servants, ‘Now, throw that good-for-nothing servant far away from me into the outer darkness, where there will be great misery and anguish!’ “
So what does this mean for you today?
Today, let’s talk about the parable of the talents as if you just joined God’s Kingdom. I’ll call this “New Member Orientation for the Kingdom.” I will tell you how God’s Kingdom works. Remember, it differs from our world.
The Bible shows us God’s character and ways. We need to explain these to people, especially new members, in a simple way. So, imagine you are a new member of God’s Kingdom, and I am helping you learn about it.
1. In the Kingdom, the owner (the King) knows things about you that you don’t know about yourself.
— You are new to the Kingdom, but you are not new to the King.
— He can define what you will be doing in the Kingdom because He designed you before you were born.
— As a new member (or citizen), I urge you to trust Him. He knows what He is doing.
— Trust what He believes about you.
— If you can get to the point where you believe what He believes about you, you will do just fine in this Kingdom.
2. Because the King knows you better than you know yourself, He assigned you duties according to the plans that He made for you before you joined the company.
— He expects you to perform your assigned duties, and He will hold you accountable, at some point, for your progress or lack thereof.
— He can hold you accountable because, along with the assignment, He gives you the grace to perform it, so you don’t have any excuses.
— He made plans for you before the foundations of the world, and when you stand before Him, He will not measure you against anyone else. He will also measure you against your individual divine purpose.
3. Because the King knows where you are in your stage of development, He will talk to you about the future, but He will never release things to you before you’re ready to handle them.
— The way He develops you is by giving you things to manage that are commensurate with the level or stage of your development.
— He owns everything, and He releases portions of His resources to your management, expecting you to make the most of what He trusted you with.
— If you prove to him that you can be faithful over what you have been given, then, because you passed the test of faithfulness, when you are called to the carpet to be accountable for your actions, He will reward you.
— When it comes time to reward you, no matter how much He had given you to manage at that stage, He will call that “little” in comparison with “the much” He will release to you for the next stage.
4. Our King will never release things to you before His timing or before you are capable of handling them.
— The way He works is that while He has ultimate plans for you (His Kingdom manual calls them “good plans,” “plans to give you a future and hope”), do not confuse His expected end with your present stage.
— While the King already knows what the expected end is, He wants you to make the most of your NOW before He releases the NEXT.
— Maximizing your purpose and potential in this Kingdom involves a process of matriculating through a series of times and seasons, levels and stages.
— The way the King of the Kingdom works, He will not promote you to the next level; He will not open the door to the next stage until you have maximized the one that you’re in.
— Citizens who do not understand how the Kingdom works are confused as to why the King often gives them glimpses of the future. They think that those glimpses are an indication that they are ready for it now.
— You must learn that there’s a difference between what you are called to do (what you see in the glimpses) and what you are capable of handling at the moment.
— The way the King of the Kingdom works, He expects His children (His disciples, His citizens) to mature before they are capable of handling the next level.
5. In this Kingdom, you must learn the principle of starting small and growing from there.
— The Kingdom manual says, “You must not despise small beginnings.” It says, “Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end will greatly increase!”
— In this Kingdom, we emphasize the importance of starting where you are with what you have.
— Successfully managing small tasks prepares us for larger responsibilities.
— Like the servants in the parable that teaches us about this Kingdom, we are each given something to steward, and it’s often small to begin with.
— In this Kingdom, responsibility is key to rulership. If you want to move up, if you want the King to promote you, you must be responsible and faithful with the little you have now.
— If you make the most of what you have been given to steward now, our King will release more to you.
— If you keep proving yourself faithful, then you will wake up one morning in the Kingdom and realize that while you already have more than you ever imagined, the King keeps giving you more because you are providing yourself faithful. It’s a truly amazing feeling to know that your hard work and dedication are being recognized and rewarded in this way.
— In this Kingdom, there is no limit to what the King will release to those who prove themselves faithful.
— But for those who fail to make the most of what the consider to be “small,” they get stuck at that stage and the King will never release more to them.
— They may dream about having more some day, and the King will even reveal to them that He has plans for them to have more. But since they were not faithful over little, the Kingdom will refuse to give them charge over much.
— The King loves all His citizens, so it pains Him to have to watch them struggle. But His love will not cause Him to violate the system He setup. In this system, you must prove faithful over little BEFORE He will give you charge over much!
6. In this Kingdom, there are rewards and consequences.
— Our Kingdom manual contains parables that teach us how the Kingdom works.
— One of the parables is the parable of the talents. In this parable, the servants are held accountable for what they did with the talents (sums of money) they were given to manage.
— We will have to answer to the King. He will want to know how we have used our abilities and opportunities.
— If we are fruitful, making the most of what God has given us, then since He is the owner, HE WINS and WE WIN!
— If we do well with what He gives us to manage, we get to advance His Kingdom. We bring glory to His name. And when HE WINS, WE WIN! When WE WIN, HE WINS! Because the King and His citizens are ONE!
— But if we fail to make the most of the talents (resources and grace) the King gave us to manage, then HE LOSES (like the parable says, “You could have at least put the money in the bank, so I could have collected interest. Since you did nothing with the money, I lost an opportunity for the money to grow.” To be clear, if God loses (meaning that you have not done anything with the life He has given you), then you will lose too!
— The servant in the parable was called wicked, and he had to deal with the consequences of his actions, or in this case, his inaction.
That’s enough to process for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me! I boldly declare:
You designed me before I was born, and I trust Your divine design for my life.
I believe what You believe about me. I align my thoughts and actions with Your divine perspective.
I understand that You have assigned me duties according to Your divine plans. I accept these assignments and the grace You provide to perform them.
I am accountable to You, Father, for my progress or lack thereof. I know You measure me against my individual divine purpose, not against anyone else.
Father, I trust Your timing and Your development process. I know You will not release things to me before I am ready to handle them.
I am committed to being faithful over the little You have entrusted to me, knowing that You will reward me with much more when I prove myself.
Father, I will not confuse Your ultimate plans for me with my current stage. I am focused on maximizing my NOW, trusting that You will release my NEXT when I am ready.
I understand the Kingdom principle of starting small and growing from there. I do not despise small beginnings; instead, I see them as stepping stones to greater responsibilities.
Living with this mindset, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
