Scripture to Read: Luke 19:20-21
Things take a shift as Jesus shared about the third servant’s report. We read in Luke 19:20–21, “Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’” Let’s first take a step back and remember what the nobleman had told each one of the ten servants back in Luke 19:13, “Do business with this until I come back.” The nobleman gave them specific instructions, an outright command to “do business.” The third servant chose to disobey that command and instead did what he felt was right in his own eyes. The third servant failed because he did nothing with the entrusted resource. The third servant’s excuse reveals his problem: his fear led him to do absolutely nothing. The third servant also tried to justify his disobedience by describing the nobleman as an “exacting man,” meaning he was severe, someone who took what he did not deposit and would reap what he did not sow. Whether this description of the nobleman is accurate or not is not the issue. The issue is that the servant used his opinion of the nobleman to justify his disobedience to the nobleman. When people build their opinion of God based on lies about God, fear of criticism or failure, or resentment toward God, then their opinion is going to lead them away from God. Though the servant called him Master, his actions revealed his resistance, not faithful submission.
Challenge & Application
Why did the third servant fail?
What can cause people to have an unbiblical view of God and lead them to total refusal to follow God?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!