Good Thursday morning! Wow, we are going to have a cooler day today....it's only supposed to hit 98!! As much as we all love summer, by this time of year most of us are looking forward to cooler weather. Do not be dismayed, it is right around the corner. I am asking you all to continue to keep Jerry Kimbrough in your prayers. Here is today's devotional from "Connect the Testaments."
August 24: Who Is Trustworthy?
Isaiah 48:1–49:26; Luke 19:11–48; Job 11:1–12
We might get sidetracked when reading the Parable of the Ten Minas. Businessmen aren’t sympathetic characters in our modern world. In movies and sometimes in life, they’re often flat, miserly characters who take advantage of naïve individuals and community values.
Although there is often an element of truth to some stereotypes, it can be too easy to take sides. And we’re forced to take sides in this parable. Whose view is correct—the people of the city who hate the nobleman, the fearful servant, or the nobleman and his faithful servants?
The response of the masses seems unjustified. The two servants entrusted with minas are faithful characters, but not the focus of the parable. When the final servant is summoned, we expect an interesting turn of events. Will we sympathize with him? We’ve already heard that the citizens hate the nobleman, and the final servant seems to confirm this: “For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man—you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!” (Luke 19:21).
But it’s not the final servant who provides the climactic turn of events that we’re looking for—it’s the nobleman. Instead of punishing the servant for disobeying His commands, the nobleman holds the servant accountable to his own perceived value system: “By your own words I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. And why did you not give my money to the bank, and I, when I returned, would have collected it with interest?” (Luke 19:22–23). Rather than letting him off the hook, the nobleman points out that the servant is inconsistent. He has been making excuses for his unfaithfulness all along.
Because we’re imperfect characters, we need to be ready and willing to take an honest look at the lenses with which we view the world: our hearts. If we’re ready to live faithfully, we need to look to the only trustworthy character—the one who sacrificed everything for us.
How do you rationalize or interpret Scripture in a way that makes you less accountable? Do you have someone in your life who challenges you? Why or why not?
REBECCA VAN NOORD
John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).
Have you invited anyone to church this week?
Pastor Joe
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