“How much?” Short, but weighty words, important both in their significance and in their setting. (Read Luke 19:1-27).
The first ten verses tell of the “Salvation” which the Lord Jesus brought at His first coming. But if this is known and the soul is deepening in the “grace of Christ,” it is necessary to respond to the parable our Lord “added” for those that “thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” The Lord Himself is seen as the nobleman pictured in the parable. He has gone to heaven, received the kingdom and will presently return. Before going, He said to His servants, “Occupy till I come,” giving to each one the same sum wherewith to trade.
Have you ever asked yourself for what purpose God saved you, gave you eternal life, sealed you with the Holy Ghost, filled you with peace, joy and hope, gave you the Holy Scriptures, and gifted you according to the grace given? Surely all this is included in the “pound” entrusted alike to each one of us.
It is a decisive day in your spiritual life when you say to yourself:
“I am not only a child of God, but He has given me the privilege and responsibility of being His servant.”
From henceforward, by His gracious help, your one object and interest in this world (apart from earthly duties) should be to “occupy,” to trade with your pound till He comes, and to trade with all your strength, for very soon your Lord and Master will return.
Before He sets up His kingdom in this world, He will ask each one “How much” has been gained by trading with His pound, in His absence? How blessed to hear from His lips, “Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful (not successful) in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.”
Be encouraged, dear brother or sister in Christ, to use His pound faithfully, no matter how insignificant your service may be. Remember it is grace alone that will put you in heaven forever, but for faithfulness in your service now, He will confer a reward in His kingdom. Very, very soon this glorious kingdom will be set up in the place in which He died, and then “if we have suffered with Him we shall also reign with Him.”
“What sort it is?” Another little sentence of great moment! (See 1 Cor. 3:12-15).
Many earnest servants apparently go in for quantity— “How much?” —regardless of quality— “What sort?”
We need to be constantly in the Lord’s presence for direction in all our service, so that our labor for Him here may be suitable to our Master’s mind. So that it may be characterized by Him as “gold, silver and precious stones”: instead of as “wood, hay and stubble,” to be consumed in the testing fire of His judgment. Thus will it be “found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).