Faithful with Little

Matthew 25:21 “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!’”

What great achievements have you accomplished in your life?

If I were to ask this question among my peers I would expect to hear things like, “I have 3 beautiful kids”, or “I’ve been married 57 years”. Some of my peers might speak of an accomplishment at work, maybe they were an architect who helped with a famous bridge, or someone else may say they saved someone’s life.

Whatever thought comes to mind when it comes to greatness, the magnitude of the feat is relative to those who are listening. Mention saving someone’s life to a group of healthcare workers and they might smile and think, “we all do that every day”. Mention a great structure you built to a room full of engineers and you’ll invariably be bragging to someone who built something much grander.

I’ve known people who have done historic work, invented Visa cards or pioneered work in Nuclear Physics, but most of these feats can barely be appreciated by the novice listener since most laymen barely understand the magnitude of what greatness entails. For instance, how could I ever truly appreciate how difficult it is to land a Mars Rover if I have no background in Astrophysics? The only way to fully appreciate something is to have some experience in that field.

When it’s all been said and done, what do think really matters in life?

A well done from a boss lasts about as long as the slap on the back that follows; once the appreciation is over, it’s time to get back to work. But there is an approval that has a much higher degree of reward, for the approval comes from the master who far surpasses your position.

Luke 12:37 “It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.”

Imagine being a garage inventor and designing your own innovative technology, then one day, the chief engineer of NASA comes to your house and sees your work and applauds. He asks you to come to the facility to show everyone your work and the accolades just keep coming…imagine the pride and honor you would feel.

Now imagine the Creator of the Universe, the origin of all knowledge, power, and truth greets you as He invites you into His celestial palace. After the God of the Universe examines your work, He then declares to you, “Well done my good and faithful servant…enter into your rest.” But the honor doesn’t stop there, He seats you at His own table, He brings you His finest banquet and honors you Himself.

The first story is a fable…the second story is the promise to all who walk faithfully in Christ.

Defining Greatness

If an accomplishment is to be considered great, it has to be defined by someone who knows what greatness looks like.

The term “awesome“, is an adjective that denotes extraordinary and inspires great admiration. This term is used all the time for some of the most trivial situations. A group of street kids watch someone smoke their tires and they exclaim “awesome!”. Someone goes to a concert featuring a favorite band and they say they had an “awesome” time.

A late famous christian contemporary recording artist by the name of Rich Mullins, wrote a song many years ago called “Awesome God”. I used to think to myself, if God is “Awesome”, then all those other things are not awesome. Using the same adjective for God, the One who holds Creation in His hands, seems to be a gross understatement when that same adjective is used for something as menial as a band.

Psalm 89:8 “LORD God of armies, who is like You, mighty LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.”

Truth is, there is no one like the Lord. There is no one who can compare. There is nothing we could do that can even hold a match to the awe inspiring brilliance of our God.

If only God is good, then only God is great.

Separate God from mankind and mankind would be relegated to accomplishing nothing more than an ant hill that is washed away in a storm. All of our accomplishments, all of our “great feats”, are nothing apart from the seal of approval from the Lord on High. He defines greatness because He embodies the very nature of it’s meaning.

1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all.”

Our Works

What ‘work’ is associated with your name?

When the fires of God’s judgement fall upon this world and all is refined and purified, what will remain?

Nothing we have built will remain. No trophies will withstand the fire, no badges, no emblems, no statutes, no buildings, literally nothing that exalts us will stand.

The only thing that will stand before the KIng will be Righteousness.

Psalm 1

“Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

To be ‘known’ by God for your righteousness, is to be known for acting in greatness. Righteousness reflects God’s perfection and He has called His people to embody His perfection. We can’t do it on our own, we don’t have what it takes; For us to be able to accomplish His purposes, we must be washed, sanctified, and made new by the redeeming work of Christ in us.

If we do anything that He has instructed us to do, we act righteously.

Everything God calls His people for in obedience corresponds to His Moral law. If your wondering whether something your doing is of God or not, study the moral law and if your work conflicts with it, your work is not of Him.

Do you know why the Father will be “well pleased” with His people?—HIs people are made in the image of the Son.

Matthew 3:17 “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Like being on a great team represented by the star of the show, Jesus becomes our righteousness when we place our trust in HIm.

The pleasure God the Father finds in the Son is the same pleasure He finds in His people.

Psalm 18:2 “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.”

Jesus’ strength, authority, and power has been relegated to His people. He has become their great High Priest, who offered Himself as a sacrifice and redeemed them from death.

We have been given a tremendous gift, the gift of life. When we walk in His Spirit, we walk in that power and bring honor to His name. When we trust Him for every situation He leads us in, we honor Him. When we relegate our accomplishments to pleasing Him, we honor Him.

The fruit of your labor is good when it has been wrought(shaped) by God. It’s these ‘good’ works that will be remembered for eternity.

Do you want to do something that will be remembered….Do it for Jesus.