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STORY #4: The boss is going away
Somebody told me once that the true test of a person’s character is how he acts when he thinks nobody’s watching. In this extraordinary parable, Jesus gives us a peek into some of the mysteries of human existence. When he used the phrase “kingdom of heaven,” Jesus meant, “Here is how God interacts with people. Here are his priorities and goals for our lives. Here is how the King gathers people into his kingdom.”
The kingdom of heaven “will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them” (Matthew 25:14).
It is not rocket science to figure out that the wealthy man in the story is God. All believers in Christ, forgiven and restored, now work for him.
This very first verse presents two huge challenges to the sinner within each of us. First, everything we have--our money; our families; our jobs and skills; our community; and especially our dearest treasure, the gospel of Christ--is a gift from God. How gratifying it is to our egos to suppose that we earned and built it all ourselves. But how healthy it is to give the Creator and Giver our praise for the wealth we all have.
The second challenge is to remember that God’s “absence” in our world is not because he’s weak, uninterested, senile, or dead. The truth? It gives him a thrill to entrust us with his stuff. He then deliberately steps back into the shadows to watch and see what we do with our lives. This parable now shows how intensely interested he is in what we do.
Somebody told me once that the true test of a person’s character is how he acts when he thinks nobody’s watching. In this extraordinary parable, Jesus gives us a peek into some of the mysteries of human existence. When he used the phrase “kingdom of heaven,” Jesus meant, “Here is how God interacts with people. Here are his priorities and goals for our lives. Here is how the King gathers people into his kingdom.”
The kingdom of heaven “will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them” (Matthew 25:14).
It is not rocket science to figure out that the wealthy man in the story is God. All believers in Christ, forgiven and restored, now work for him.
This very first verse presents two huge challenges to the sinner within each of us. First, everything we have--our money; our families; our jobs and skills; our community; and especially our dearest treasure, the gospel of Christ--is a gift from God. How gratifying it is to our egos to suppose that we earned and built it all ourselves. But how healthy it is to give the Creator and Giver our praise for the wealth we all have.
The second challenge is to remember that God’s “absence” in our world is not because he’s weak, uninterested, senile, or dead. The truth? It gives him a thrill to entrust us with his stuff. He then deliberately steps back into the shadows to watch and see what we do with our lives. This parable now shows how intensely interested he is in what we do.
Scripture
About this Plan
Jesus often spoke in parables. This devotional reading plan will help you understand four of his most famous.
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