I’ve been thinking about some of the basic truths of God’s word dealing with money. One of the most important is simply this: The Lord requires us to be faithful regardless of how much money He has entrusted to us. The parable of the talents illustrates this.
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability” (Matthew 25:14-15).
When the master returned, he held each slave accountable for faithfully managing his possessions. Read the master’s commendation of the faithful slave who received the five talents: “Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21). Interestingly, the slave who had been given two talents received the identical reward as the slave who had been given the five talents (see Matthew 25:23). The Lord rewards faithfulness, regardless of the amount over which we are responsible.
We are required to be faithful whether we have a lot or a little. As someone once said, “It’s not what I would do if $1 million were my lot; it’s what I am doing with the ten dollars I’ve got.”
Here’s the question we all have to answer today: Are we being faithful with what the Lord has given us?
