Scripture to Read: Luke 19:22-23
The nobleman’s response might be chilling, but it is absolutely right and just, for the nobleman had entrusted his resources to the servants. God led Luke to write in Luke 19:22–23, “He *said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’” The nobleman chose to judge the third servant by his very own words. If the third servant really believed that the nobleman was incredibly demanding, that should have made this servant even more careful to obey, not less. His very words prove that he had simply come up with a lame excuse to not obey his master. The nobleman even told him that he could have placed the money in a bank so it could have earned some interest. The servant’s excuse exposed his inconsistency. What Jesus shows here is that the third servant’s failure was not due to a lack of opportunity. He had the same resource entrusted to him as the other servants had received. His failure was his unfaithfulness. He may have been a servant, but he never served his master; he simply served his own feelings and what felt right to him. Though the master had invited him to be a part of the master’s plan, the third servant instead decided he would follow his own plan.
Challenge & Application
How can you help lost people see God as you do rather than seeing God in an unbiblical way?
What was it that revealed that the servant’s heart was never submitted to the master?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!