Faithful with a Few Things

"Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." -Mt. 25:21

In a broad sense, every parable of Jesus is about the kingdom of God. The parable of the talents is no different. The story goes like this: a wealthy man is going on a long journey. Just before he leaves, he entrusts his money and possessions to his servants, with the expectation the servants will use these things to expand the man's estate. After a long time, the man returns. While one servant did not meet the expectation, the other two did. He tells the two they were a model of faithfulness. He tells the one he was not. Then, the two enter his joy, the one is sent away.

My favorite part of this parable is what the man says to the two servants. Specifically, he calls them "faithful." They were faithful with a few things. In context, faithfulness was using what they'd been given—with the skills they had—to expand the estate for as long as the master was away. The funny thing is the master refers to both five talents and three talents as a "few things." From his perspective, everybody got a few things. So, the point wasn't how much each person did or didn't get, but how they used what they got... Were they faithful?

From God's perspective, everything I own is just a few things. All I really want to do is be faithful with them. I want to use what I've been given—with the skills that I have—to expand God's kingdom for as long as He's away. I want to be faithful.