FRIDAY 3.31.23: Using Your Gifts – Luke 19:11-28
Jesus’ bold story of a king and his servants taught a lesson about faithful service. This story (Matthew 25 told it a bit differently) showed the master praising and rewarding servants who went all out to serve him. But it warned against playing it too safe—the king chided the “worthless servant” who was too fearful to risk anything.
(NOTE: The story’s violent end matched real events. “Archelaus’s [son of Herod the Great] subjects (cf. 19:12) in fact sent a delegation after him asking that he not be allowed to rule….Herod, Archelaus, and other rulers often dealt harshly with their political opponents.” 1)
Reflection
• Jesus’ hearers would have seen God as the king in Jesus’ story and Israel as the servants. God gave Israel a task—to show God’s glory and love to all nations (Genesis 12:1-3). How has God
gifted you? In what ways do those gifts imply the task(s) God calls you to? Do you ever feel like keeping your gifts safely in a “scarf,” rather than actively using them for God’s work in the world?
• Jesus’ story wouldn’t have made sense if the servants had all instantly believed they “owned” the large sum of money they received. How easy or hard do you find it to shift from thinking “I OWN all
this” to “I’m a steward to whom God has entrusted these things (material possessions or gifts and talents) to use for God’s purposes”?
Prayer: King Jesus, I want to serve you faithfully. Help me to see in what ways you have gifted me, and help me use those gifts to serve you boldly and faithfully. Amen.
1Zondervan, NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible