DAY 1 – January 25, 2010
TITLE: “UNTIL JESUS COMES”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19:11-26
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’” Luke 19:13
The servants were on assignment. Their master was going to a distant country to have himself appointed as king. He would then return back home to his servants. The ten servants had been given a minas. His instructions were simply to put the money to work until he returned.
These servants of the Lord were not just to sit around and wait for their master, and soon to be king, to return. They were to work for the master until he returned. The servants had been given a mina to work with by their master. In other words, he had given them what they needed to do, what he asked them to do. The master was their resource. Putting the money to work was their responsibility. They had a mission to fulfill and a job to do.
When Jesus left this earth, He gave His followers an assignment. He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. With the commission came the promise of His presence for God promises to be our resource and supply as we do His work.
As His disciples, we have been given an assignment. We are to work until Jesus comes. In other words, we are to do what we can for the Lord with what He has given us while we can. Will you work for the Lord with all your heart until He comes? Elizabeth Mills wrote a poem with the title, “We’ll work Until Jesus Comes.” Take a few moments to reflect on the words as you renew your commitment to work until Jesus comes.
“O land of rest, for
thee I sigh! When will the moment come?
When I shall lay my
armor by, and dwell in peace at home?
To Jesus Christ I fled
for rest; He bade me cease to roam.
And lean for succor on
His breast Till He conduct me home.
I sought at once my
Saviour’s side; No more my steps shall roam.
With Him I’ll brave
death’s chilling tide, And reach my heav’nly home.
We’ll work till Jesus
comes. We’ll work, till Jesus comes.
We’ll work till Jesus
comes, and we’ll be gathered home!”
DAY 2 - January 26, 2010
TITLE: “HE WAS MADE KING”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19:11-26
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it…” Luke 19:15
In Lloyd C. Douglas’ book, The Robe, the slave Demetrius pushes his way through the crowd on the occasion of the triumphal entry, trying to see who is the center of attention. He comes close enough to look upon the face of Jesus. Later another slave asks him, “See him—close up?’ Demetrius nodded. “Crazy?” Demetrius shook his head emphatically. “King?” “No.” muttered Demetrius, “not a king.” “What is he then?” demanded the other slave. “I don’t know,” mumbled Demetrius, “But he is something more than a king.”
The Psalmist wrote, “Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty, he is the King of glory.” Psalm 24:7-10
Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the
eternal King. He is the Messiah, the Savior promised by God in the Old
Testament. At the beginning of His life,
wise men came from the east searching for the King of the Jews. At the end of
His life, Pilate asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus is not only
“Crown him with many
crowns, the Lamb upon his throne,
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and
sing of him who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King through all
eternity.
Crown him the Lord of
life, who triumphed o'er the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife for those he
came to save.
His glories now we
sing, who died, and rose on high,
who died, eternal life to bring, and lives that
death may die.
Crown him the Lord of
love; behold his hands and side,
those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
All hail, Redeemer,
hail! For thou hast died for me;
thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.”
Matthew Bridges Godfrey Thring
DAY 3 – January 27, 2010
TITLE: “TRUSTWORTHY”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19:11-26
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’” Luke 19:17
Years ago, Monroe Parker was traveling through South Alabama on one of those
hot, sultry
What does it mean to be trustworthy? Not just ten cents worth, but totally trustworthy. What does it mean to be trustworthy in the eyes of God? In this story it meant to be faithful to invest what he had been given by the master for the master.
In this story, the king returned home and sent for the servants to find out what they had gained with the money they had been given. The first servant reported that the mina he had been given had earned 10 more. The master responded, “Well done, my good servant!” The King then said, “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.” His trustworthiness with what he had been given caused the king to trust him with more.
Are you trustworthy? Are you trustworthy in God’s eyes? This story teaches us to live each day so that at the end of the day the Lord will say, “Well done my good servant.” The lesson is clear that God has trusted us with what He has given us. It is not our mina, but His and we are to work and use it for His glory. Paul wrote, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” I Corinthians 4:2
Will you be faithful with what God has entrusted to you?
Live each day so that at the end of the day the Lord will say as He said to the
first servant, “You have been
trustworthy.”
DAY 4 – January 28, 2010
TITLE: “I KEPT IT LAID AWAY”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19:11-26
DAILY SCRIPTURE
KEY VERSE: “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth.’” Luke 19:20
In this story, Jesus confronts another servant to discover what he had gained from the mina he had been given. Unlike the other servants, this man had not been fruitful with what he had been given. Instead of putting it to work, he had done nothing with it. Take a few moments to reflect on some of the following verses that speak about the man who does nothing.
This man did nothing with what he had been given. He simply kept it in a piece of cloth and laid it aside. He did not do what he had been asked to do. Instead of offering the master fruit from investing the mina, he offered him excuses and reasons for not putting the mina to work. This unfruitful servant had been given something by the master to put to work, but he simply laid it aside and did nothing with it. So much potential was in that mina, but he simply laid aside.
George Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950) was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama. During his life, he wrote more than 60 plays. History records that one day a reporter asked him, "If you could live your life over and be anybody you've known, or any person from history, who would you be?" George Bernard Shaw replied, "I would choose to be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been, but never was."
This servant did much less than he could have done. All the potential of what could have been was lost because he laid aside what he had been given and did nothing with it for the master. This story teaches us not to lay aside what the Lord has given us to use for Him. With His help and guidance, unwrap the spiritual gifts, resources, passions, abilities, experiences, and testimony you have been given today and use them for His glory.
DAY 5 – January 29, 2010
TITLE: “WHY?”
WEEKLY SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19:11-26
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 19:21-26
KEY VERSE: “Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?” Luke 19:23
What
comes to mind when you think of the word, “why?” The word can refer to an
American rock band, song, album, board game, city in
In our last devotional on this
story of the servants and the minas, we focus on the master’s why question to
the servant who did nothing with what he had been given. The issue for the
servant was, knowing what you knew, why did you not do what you should have
done. The master’s question was simply, “Why then didn’t you put my money on
deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with
interest?”
The servant’s excuses were all
used up. He was left without an excuse or explanation that would clear his name
or justify his actions. He was a man without excuse, silenced by the truth. He
did not do what he should have done or what he knew to do. He was held
accountable for what he knew to do.
In my own life, I have read,
studied, and preached on the book of James numerous times. Though there are
many verses that are special to my heart, in that book there is one I have
reflected on many times. It says, “Anyone,
then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17.
The verse simply reminds us that we are accountable and responsible to
do the good we know to do. We are accountable and responsible to God to be
faithful to use the minas God has given us for the Master. Paul’s words to the
Some day you and I will stand
before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What will He say to you? Will he
ask you why you did not do what you knew to do, or will He say, “Well done, my good servant?”
“I have this day to
live for Him, will I faithful be?
What are the words
that He will speak, what will He say to me?
When my life is over
at the eternal setting of the sun
Will I be asked why, or
hear the words, well done?”