| A Boss After God’s Own Heart 13 / ABAGOH >>> |
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A Boss After
God’s Own Heart (ABAGOH)– Part 13 Faithfulness and accountability |
Luc 12:42-48 – AMP – The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward [of the estate], whom his master will put in charge over his household, to give his servants their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he arrives. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is taking his time in coming,’ and begins to beat the servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and yet did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will be beaten with many lashes [of the whip], but the one who did not know it and did things worthy of a beating, will receive only a few [lashes]. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
In the parable of the faithful steward, Jesus teaches us the importance
of responsibility, faithfulness and accountability. Joseph the son of
Jacob is an excellent example of a faithful and reliable servant. He
was so faithful to his master Potiphar and to Pharaoh king of Egypt
that they did not even have to worry about anything concerning their
household or their country. Joseph had proven himself to be faithful
and accountable and was trusted with a great responsibility. He was
faithful in small things and he was entrusted with greater things, so
much so that he became the most important minister in Pharaoh’s government.
Every surrounding nation depended on Joseph for their survival during
the drought. The seed of Abraham was saved from certain extinction because
Joseph proved himself faithful and reliable. Even Pharaoh depended on
Joseph for his subsistence during the seven years of famine that devastated
the land and Joseph faithfully did his job till the end. Potiphar and
Pharaoh granted Joseph a blind faith because he was just trustworthy
and accountable. Not only that, but everything he touched prospered
in his hand (Genesis 39:4-6; 41:39-44). Many people want to be assigned
important posts and positions but few are those who can prove themselves
reliable, accountable and trustworthy. These are some of the attributes
that a man after God’s own heart must have.
In the story of David and Bathsheba, we can also see the importance
of responsibility and accountability. As a leader, it was David’s responsibility
to be at the battle field with the army of Israel when they were fighting
against the Amonites. They needed his support and his presence alone
would have been a great encouragement in the fight against the enemy.
But instead of being where he was supposed to be, king David sent Joab,
his chief commander to the battle and remained at home. By failing to
fulfill his duty, he put himself in big trouble with God. Each of us
is accountable before God for the task that he has assigned to us. Don’t
send anybody to do the job that nobody else but you can do. Take your
responsibility because God has put something unique in you so that the
job will be well done. Sometimes we need to surround ourselves with
people who can help us to keep up with our task to achieve greater results,
because we just need one another. And we should not be too proud to
think that we can do everything alone. But we still need to fulfill
our assigned duties and be faithful. Delegation is alright as long as
we ourselves continue to do what we have been called to do. And when
we delegate tasks, it is good to also check and make sure that the work
was properly done.
Running away from our responsibilities can have devastating consequences
as we can see in the story of David and Bathsheba. David got himself
so much entangled in sin that God had to strongly rebuke and punish
him. The sins of adultery and murder that he committed brought a curse
on his family. Because of David, Bathsheba had to burry two innocent
loved ones, her husband and the baby that was born to her from David.
And because of David, not only Uriah the Hittite but other innocent
soldiers died that day on the battle field where the fight was the fiercest
because David purposely ordered it. But the worse thing is that David
gave great occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme the name of the
Lord and thus ruined their chance of ever being adopted in God’s family.
The Bible declares that blaspheming the Holy Ghost is the only sin that
can never be forgiven, just like Jesus says in Mark 3:28-29 (KJV): “Verily
I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and
blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall
blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger
of eternal damnation”. This is also the reason why the devil and
his angels can never be forgiven, because they keep blaspheming against
God since the very beginning. We don’t want to be the reason why certain
people will never experience salvation and will never get to heaven.
We don’t want to be a stumbling block for those for whom Jesus died.
As children of God, it is so important how we walk with Him because
if we are not careful, we will be responsible for the eternal damnation
of certain people. It is a great privilege to be called a child of God,
but it is also a great responsibility. We influence the lives of the
people around us by the way we live. They can either see and acknowledge
God through us by the way we live, talk and act, or they will reject
and scorn Him. That is the reason why we must be different and not conform
with the way of living of this world where just a handful of people
are living in the fear and in the knowledge of God. We are children
of light and it is God’s will that our light will shine in the world.
This is the reason why Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 (AMP): “Let your
light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds
and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father
who is in heaven”. We are the only Bible that some people will
ever get the chance to read. God has called us to liberty, but that
liberty do not gives us the freedom to do whatever we want and it is
not a license to sin. We are free from the curse of the law and from
the power of sin, but we must consider ourselves as the slaves of Christ.
We are responsible for everything God has trusted us with, whether talents,
abilities, material things or money. Everything we have and are come
from Jesus and without Him there is nothing we can do. So should we
then not be careful to take good care of the things and the people that
God has put under our care? Should we not invest our God’s given abilities
to be good stewards? Should we use our influence as a mean to abuse
others and pursue our selfish interest? God forbid. Let’s be servants
after God’s mind and heart.
God knows why He has chosen and appointed us for a particular task.
He takes counsel with Himself and decides that we fit in a given position
because we are best equipped for that specific job. God does not ask
us to do something without giving us the means to do it. If He calls
us in a particular position, He will also make sure that we have all
we need to keep up with the task. It is a burden that we must carry
with His help, and He expects us to be reliable, faithful and consistent
in whatever He asks us to do, just like Joseph was. And if we are faithful
in whatever we are doing in the Lord, whether great or small, God will
promote us and trust us with greater responsibilities according to His
divine will and purpose. It does not matter what we are asked to do,
we should do it wholeheartedly as unto the Lord, knowing that our reward
comes from Him alone. But we don’t actually set our minds on the rewards;
we set our minds on Jesus Christ alone because He is our greatest reward.
Heaven without Jesus is not interesting at all. He is the main attraction
in heaven and He is the One that we desire more than the streets of
gold and the beautiful mansions (John 14:2; Revelation 21:18-21).
We don’t need to compete with one another while doing the things that
we are called to do. Jesus was never in competition with nobody because
He is the matchless God. Nobody can compete with Him. So we should follow
His example and always remember that we are unprofitable servants (Luke
17:7-10). It is all about Jesus and the precious souls that He died
for. We should not do our job to be seen or to get men’s approval and
praise, but we should do it to get God’s approval and favor. The whole
universe smiles when the Master of all is happy. We want to make Jesus
happy with our faithfulness and sense of responsibility because His
only concern is to satisfy our soul and give us a lasting happiness.
Being faithful to God is a way of expressing our love for Jesus and
our appreciation for giving His all for us on the cross of Calvary.
Being faithful to Jesus is the least we can do to express our thankfulness
for the precious blood that He shed for us while we were still sinners.
God is not asking us to do things that are beyond our abilities. But
in every situation He will provide for our need and give us the wisdom,
the strength and the courage that we need to do a good job. mt