Faithfulness Starts With Faith
Matthew 25:14-30 (NKJV)
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
This parable reminds us of the relationship we have with our Master, Jesus. He has gone on a ‘long journey’ and has entrusted His Kingdom to His disciples. We have all been given responsibilities in His kingdom and we are called to be faithful with what we have been given until He returns. Our faithfulness to Jesus starts by having faith in Him. If we have no faith in Him we simply cannot be faithful to HIm.
Having faith in Jesus is about believing in the "Cause of His Kingdom", having confidence in His plan, trusting Him in all seasons of life. Such faith will naturally produce faithfulness in our lives.
Have a look at how you relate to leaders in your life. If you don’t have faith in the person you’re serving then you won’t be faithful. A faithful servant trusts his leader, even in the tough times; believes in the vision; has confidence in decisions that are made; is committed and reliable. All of these attributes of faithfulness stem from having faith in the person you’re serving.
In this parable the ‘Master’ was willing to entrust his goods to his servants because he knew they had faith in him – they trusted him and loved his kingdom. The master would have been stupid to entrust his goods to those who doubted him and hated his kingdom!
If you’re frustrated that you haven’t been given more responsibility in certain areas of life then perhaps you need to address this question: do you have faith in those in authority over you? They will know if you don’t trust them and so the last thing they’re going to do is give you any significant responsibility!
This leaves us with a choice – either we move on and serve someone else, or we make the decision to have faith in our leaders and consequently become faithful servants. Perhaps it would be good to pray a prayer similar to the man in Mark 9:24 - “I believe! Help my unbelief!”
Steuart Payne
Executive Pastor, Family Church
(This week's devotionals are written by one of the Family Church pastors, enjoy!)
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
This parable reminds us of the relationship we have with our Master, Jesus. He has gone on a ‘long journey’ and has entrusted His Kingdom to His disciples. We have all been given responsibilities in His kingdom and we are called to be faithful with what we have been given until He returns. Our faithfulness to Jesus starts by having faith in Him. If we have no faith in Him we simply cannot be faithful to HIm.
Having faith in Jesus is about believing in the "Cause of His Kingdom", having confidence in His plan, trusting Him in all seasons of life. Such faith will naturally produce faithfulness in our lives.
Have a look at how you relate to leaders in your life. If you don’t have faith in the person you’re serving then you won’t be faithful. A faithful servant trusts his leader, even in the tough times; believes in the vision; has confidence in decisions that are made; is committed and reliable. All of these attributes of faithfulness stem from having faith in the person you’re serving.
In this parable the ‘Master’ was willing to entrust his goods to his servants because he knew they had faith in him – they trusted him and loved his kingdom. The master would have been stupid to entrust his goods to those who doubted him and hated his kingdom!
If you’re frustrated that you haven’t been given more responsibility in certain areas of life then perhaps you need to address this question: do you have faith in those in authority over you? They will know if you don’t trust them and so the last thing they’re going to do is give you any significant responsibility!
This leaves us with a choice – either we move on and serve someone else, or we make the decision to have faith in our leaders and consequently become faithful servants. Perhaps it would be good to pray a prayer similar to the man in Mark 9:24 - “I believe! Help my unbelief!”
Steuart Payne
Executive Pastor, Family Church
(This week's devotionals are written by one of the Family Church pastors, enjoy!)
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