A Few Things

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21

In this well-known parable, Jesus illustrates the responsibility we have as Christians to invest the resources and abilities that He entrusts to us on His behalf. Most of us like to characterize ourselves as people who do not have very much talent or ability, but I Corinthians 12 teaches that God gives spiritual gifts to each of us. You and I may look at the gifts that God has given us and think that they are few and small, but the Lord expects us to invest them for His glory just the same. In this parable, the Lord commends that servant who was given five talents for being faithful over “a few things,” when he obviously received more than any other servant in the story by more than double. He received five times as much as the servant who was given the least. No matter how much God has given to us, it is small in comparison to the rewards He has in store for us if we invest it for Him. In a financial sense, investing is using an amount of money in hopes that it will yield a profit or some tangible result. In a spiritual sense, investing is using our abilities, efforts, and resources to achieve a positive spiritual result in bringing people closer to God and bringing glory to His name. We may belittle the potential of the abilities and resources that God has placed in our care, but He is excited when we invest what we have for His glory.