Wednesday, April 10 - Luke 19

GIFTS (Luke 19:11-27)

   Sometimes I look back on my life and I think of all that I have wasted.  So many things I could have done that I didn’t.  So many opportunities that were presented to me and I passed them up.

    I wish I had learned to ski.  I wish I had learned to play the piano.  I wish my father had taught me more about mechanics, home repair.  I wish I knew more about how to draw.

   I wish I had invited this person to come and visit in my home.  I wish I had gone to that theatrical production.  And so on….  and so on…

   When I read the Parable of the Ten Minas, I most often relate to the third servant, who did not put to work all that the Master had entrusted to him, but instead, laid it away in a piece of cloth.

   Do any of us actually relate to the two others who brought great joy to the Master by employing the minas in a way that brought great production?

   But I thank God that because of Jesus Christ putting it all on the line for me, God no longer looks at my failures and my missed opportunities.  God no longer judges me on the basis of my inadequacy and bad choices.

   Instead, covered in the purity of my Lord Jesus Christ, He looks at me and sees the perfect life of His Son.   And, despite all my mistakes, He declares:  “well done, good servant.”

   As God’s people, we don’t have to get caught up in the past.  In Christ, our sinful faults are washed away as far as the East is from the West.  Instead, by God’s grace, we look forward to the future and seek to make the most of every opportunity.  God is faithful, He even uses imperfect vessels like us to carry out His wonderful plans for the world.

   “Well done, good servant.  Get out there and keep on using God’s gifts to make a difference.”