Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV)

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “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. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.
29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Reflection
There is a TV show called the “Undercover Boss,” where a CEO goes undercover as an employee in his own company. The CEO is usually so far removed from the workforce that the employees don’t recognize him and just work as they do normally, with some more faithfully than others. But occasionally, an employee who is less than faithful recognizes the CEO. Oh boy, once that realization hits, how quickly everything changes - his attitude, motivation and work quality improve ever so drastically.

Here in this parable, it wasn’t necessarily the gold that motivated the servants, but it was whether or not the servants really knew the master. And the servants’ reactions revealed whether they really did know their master. For the first two, they were well acquainted with the master’s ways. Because there was no doubt that their responsibility was to increase the gold, they immediately went out and did just that. They were good and faithful stewards of what was entrusted to them. But the third one, while he thought he knew the master, he really didn’t. He made wrong assumptions about the master and thus failed to please him.

Response
As we seek to know more of God and all of His wonderful and loving ways, not only will we know what to do with all He has given to us, our heart desire will also be to be His good and faithful servant. Let’s start with confession, confessing that we need to know our Master. Let’s continue on with thanksgiving and worship, and let’s seek to please and serve Him by being faithful with all He has entrusted to us.

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Reflection
With our struggle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual authorities and powers, it is comforting and reassuring to know that we, God’s blessed servants, have all that we need - weapons and armor - to be strong and stand firm. How wonderful and amazing is our God who has equipped us to stand firm against spiritual struggles and also to move forward in advancing His kingdom. While God has given us the weapons and dressed us in the full armor, how do we actually stand strong and move forward? We stand and move through prayer. We are called to pray in the Spirit on ALL occasions with ALL kinds of prayers and requests and to keep on praying for ALL the Lord’s people.

Response
Let’s obey and pray, as the Spirit leads us. Let’s pray that we, as His blessed servants, will be dressed and ready to advance God’s kingdom. Let’s pray for the New York church plant, Ecclesia, AHC and ALC and pray that God’s kingdom will move forward in all of these places where God has placed us.

Ephesians 5:15-20 (NIV)

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection
Each morning we wake up to new opportunities. Each hour we can take those opportunities and carefully make the most of them or carelessly make the least of them. Each moment we can be wise and understand the Lord’s will or we can be foolish and let the day be won over by evil. What enables us to the make most of every opportunity? The answer is the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Spirit, we will speak to one another in songs from the Spirit, make heart music to the Lord, and be thankful for every single moment and opportunity. As Spirit-filled servants, we will bless others with our words, songs and thanksgiving.

Response
Just as the verse says, “be filled with the Spirit,” let us be filled with the Spirit. Let’s ask God to remove everything else that has been filling us and to fill us with His Spirit. As His blessed servants, let’s wisely make the most of the opportunities to bless and serve others with encouraging words, worshipful singing and constant thanksgiving. Let’s pray for those people we see each day, either at home, work or school.

Matthew 25:1-13 (NIV)

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Reflection
At first glance, it seems like Jesus calls the virgins “wise” or “foolish” based on whether or not they had brought enough oil for the long wait. Yes that is true, but when we look a little deeper, we see that it is not just about preparedness but more about the heart attitudes that motivated the virgins. Jesus calls “wise” the virgins whose heart attitude showed that they wanted to be with the bridegroom above all else demonstrated by bringing the extra oil and even unwilling to share their oil. Jesus calls “foolish” the other virgins whose actions revealed a careless attitude toward being with the bridegroom. Because it was less important that they be with the bridegroom, they were careless in their preparation and took a chance on being excluded from the wedding banquet.

What makes a wise or foolish servant? Is it about being prepared, having the right stuff, or doing things well? Readiness is not only about preparation but also an attitude of the heart. A blessed servant is the one who desires to be with Jesus and prepares wisely to be with Him. Nothing else is more important than being near Him. When we have this kind of attitude, we can genuinely serve and give ourselves as servants for His kingdom.

Response
Let’s take a moment to search our hearts. As we find attitudes and motives that are less than the desire to be with Jesus, let’s ask Him to purify our hearts and give us renewed desires to be with Him. Remember, we are the blessed servants and we can be assured that we can have a faithful heart and be ready for Him.

Ephesians 1:3-14 (NIV)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Reflection
When we receive a gift, the gift itself is only half of the joy. What’s the other half? It’s in knowing the identity of the giver. If we don’t know, we’re still happy but we’re left wondering who could be so generous to give us a gift. But if we know the identity, we’re even more overjoyed because we know that it came from someone who thought of us and cared enough to give.

We have received every spiritual blessing in Christ! They are so precious to us because we know that they all come from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Adoption, calling, anointing, salvation, holiness, forgiveness and freedom – all of these come from the One who is rich in love and grace. Out of the incredible working of His wisdom and understanding, He revealed the mystery of His will to us so that we can know Him and be in relationship with Him. Out of this relationship, we give genuine praise and thanksgiving to Him from whom all blessings flow.

Response
Each phrase in this passage reveals how incredibly blessed we are. Read the passage again and focus on a couple of phrases. As you spend time meditating on God’s Word, let’s ask the Giver of all spiritual blessings to let His Words become more real in our lives.