Week 19, Day 3
May 11, 2022 Scripture: Matthew 25 ““Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’” (Matthew 25:24–25, TNIV) It is common for us to think of God the way the man who received one bag feels about God. After all, he got the one bag, and so the Master is obviously not as generous and kind as he was to the others. He must be a hard man if he isn’t as generous with me as he is with those people. He figures that the Master will take and get as he pleases, wherever he pleases. So, the one-bag man misunderstands the Master, and he also lives afraid of the Master as well. He’s a hard man. He sees the Master as harsh, and he takes as he pleases. This perspective on the Master shapes his behavior, his trust and his understanding. When we misunderstand God, our tendency is to follow a similar path as this man. Perhaps we didn’t get as much as we want in the talent department. Perhaps we don’t have the wealth we were looking for. Perhaps we have had several setbacks in or life – all shaping our view of God as a hard and difficult Master. I get it. But I would simply invite you to see the goodness and generosity of God. To those who understand God as the generous and benevolent Master, more was given to them. Is that offer possible for the man who received the one bag? I think one could have turned into more. Don’t you? The Master would have blessed it more, had the posture of the servant wasn’t as it was. We can spend our lives with an ill-view of God, fearful in ways that lead us to mistrust and misunderstanding God. Or we can see him as the benevolent Father who cares for us, in all circumstances, in little or much. See Paul in Philippians, who knows what it is to have little and to have much, but Christ is all! Trust in God. Walk with Him. Live generously. Encourage people to see God for who he is, and one day, we will all come together and enjoy our Master’s happiness. Walk in Faith, trusting in the love of God, our Father.
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AuthorJordan Ickes, Minister of Etna Green Church of Christ. Archives
December 2022
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