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? A few things.
1. Making the most of your current situation involves an efficient use of time.
— When God tells you to do something, immediate action is crucial.
— The man given five (5) talents “immediately” went out to double the money.
— Delayed obedience is disobedience.
— The unfaithful steward did nothing with what he was given.
— Procrastination will cost you in God’s Kingdom.
— God is a God of times and seasons. Saying, “This is my season! This is my time!” is great. But if you procrastinate, you may miss both!
2. Grace empowers you to operate beyond your human abilities.
— I shared yesterday that when your power ends, God’s grace can kick in.
— God will not compete with you. If you want to do everything with your own power, ability, and strength, God will stand by and wait for your power to end. When it does, He will be ready to empower you to do what you could never do without Him.
— God’s strength is only made perfect in your weakness.
3. No assignment from God comes without the grace to complete it.
— The stewards who doubled the money did not do it with their own power. It was the grace of God on them.
— God’s instruction is always equal to His injection.
— God will never expect you to do something He has not equipped you to do.
— The fact that God is telling you to do it is evidence that He has already given you the grace for it.
4. Laziness is a blessing-blocker.
— The lazy steward in this parable blocked his own blessing.
— The master set him up to receive what the other two received, but he missed out because of laziness.
— The Bible says, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.” (Prov 10:4 NIV).
— The Bible says, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” (Prov 13:4 NLT).
— Laziness will cause you to miss the opportunities God puts in front of you, and it will also lead to a terrible
experience in life!
— The Bible says, “For when we were with you we instructed you with these words: “Anyone who does not want to work for a living should go hungry.” (2 Thes 3:10 TPT).
5. It is impossible to please God without faith (Heb 11:6).
— I am convinced that the two faithful stewards did not know how they were going to make the money grow, but they launched out in faith anyway, expecting that God would lead them AS THEY WENT! Guess what? God did!
— It takes faith to do what God has called you to do. Faith is an action word. If you sit around and wait for your blessing to come to you, you may be waiting a long time!
— When you live by faith, you have to start without all the answers. The two faithful stewards did not try to figure everything out BEFORE they got started. They got started and figured it out AS THEY WENT!
— I told you earlier in this series that God can do more with you ONCE YOU GET STARTED!
— A faith-based mindset propels you into action.
6. Our God is a God of increase and advancement; if we want to walk with Him, we must learn to think like Him.
— It takes a continual renewal of the mind to live in alignment with God’s will.
— As we can see in this parable, God equated INCREASE to FAITHFULNESS.
— The steward who was called “wicked and lazy” did not lose the money he was given. He maintained it. He held on to it. And he was still called “wicked and lazy.” Why? Because the owner (God) was looking for an increase!
— God is looking for us to exercise faith to multiply what He’s given us.
— When you learn to think like God, you become “wired” for growth/increase. You will never be satisfied with just maintaining where you are.
— God is always looking for us to ADVANCE. Why? Because when we advance, we advance His Kingdom on this planet, and that is the goal.
— Kingdom advancement is not about selfish desires. It’s about promoting God’s desires on this planet in a way that impacts the world (the people and the systems of this world) for His glory!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me! I boldly declare:
I will maximize my current situation by using my time efficiently.
When You instruct me to move, I will act immediately because delayed obedience is disobedience.
I refuse to be like the unfaithful steward who did nothing. Procrastination has no place in my life.
I acknowledge that You are a God of times and seasons. I will not miss my season or my time due to procrastination.
Your grace empowers me to operate beyond my human abilities.
I will not rely solely on my own strength, knowing that when my power ends, Your grace kicks in.
I am confident that if You tell me to do it, the grace to accomplish it is already on me and in me.
Father, I reject laziness in all its forms. Laziness is a blessing-blocker.
I will be diligent in all my endeavors, knowing that diligent hands bring wealth.
I will seize the opportunities You place before me and will not let laziness cause me to miss out.
I am wired for increase and Kingdom advancement. My focus is not on selfish desires but on promoting Your desires on this planet for Your glory.
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!
