Faith and Reward

His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." – Matthew 25:21

When God gives us something, we have the choice to either use it for ourselves, or use it for His glory. It is not unusual to see ourselves, or someone we know, to waste the gift that God has given.
In Matthew 25, we read the parable of the talents (currency) and see how each servant uses the talents given to them. The first two who received talents invested them and doubled their return. The last, buried it in the ground so that it would not be lost. Each servant was given a reward based on their efforts while the master was away.

This past year or so, God has taught me a lot about faithfulness and how we truly can trust him through everything, though we still seem to neglect his love at times. If nothing else, I have gained wisdom from the Holy Spirit by spending an hour in the morning to focus on the Lord. There was a time when my faith was not in the Lord, but in my own desires. Looking back, I really lost my chance at ministry with some of the choices I made, and the people involved may never see the Lord in me. However, more recently, I pray that God will use me for His purpose and that he will help me to not focus on my own will, but on his through all things.

As the servants received a reward for their work with the talents, we will also receive a reward for our work with what God has given us. We are now in a time where the Master is away, but will return with the expectation of some result from his servants. We are called to serve Christ and it will take a commitment everyday to go out and invest our "talents", whether it be our money or our skills. When the Lord returns, he will look at our faith, and reward us based on our effort while he was away. Therefore, if nothing else, we must do the very least as to gain some interest on our "talent" (v27), so that the Lord will be given the glory. As Ecclesiastes shows us, nothing is worth our time unless it is being done in service to the Lord. Trust in God and seek the reward he has for you.