by David Brenneman
"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:1-5.
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and *settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 25:14-30.
We were given choice by way of the cross of Jesus Christ. We who are in Christ and those who are not. Our first choice available to us is in receiving the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of our sins or not.
To those souls yet not choosing this, this choice remains on the table...for now.
For those having come to Christ for salvation, the immediate choice is full obedience to God's Word or picking and choosing what they will accept and what they will obey.
We aren't to let circumstances change our level of obedience. Rough as that may sound, read Jeremiah with regards to the harsh sounding, but necessary, instructions he received with regards to obeying the Word of the Lord.
We even may believe that our path we are on is one of obedience...but there's still a place in time where we were obstinate and didn't stay where we were to be in our utilizing the spiritual gifts we were given. We instead did what that last slave did and buried it. Then go on in life thinking that our choice of a path of obedience is the right way. We have all done it. In probably every person who's come to Christ for salvation, we probably all have been Prodigal's at some point in time.
For those who know of Dr. Charles Stanley's teaching on Life Principles. There's one that says we are to obey God and leave the consequences to Him. This means when we're doing well and when life makes no sense at all.
Paul's exhortation to Timothy applies to each Believer. We have a race to run, we have a path to walk. We have a course to complete in Christ Jesus.
Later in Matthew 25 we read of people who never knew at the time that they indeed were living in obedience to God's Word at the time but they were. They were when they displayed the character of Christ Jesus in themselves towards others.
Our world exudes selfishness. In overt ways and the extremely subtle ways. We take pride in things that we shouldn't. We indulge in things that we shouldn't. We seek after things that are robbing us of our training in righteousness that is part of God's will for each of us.
We are either investing what we were entrusted or we are burying it.
But the truth of God's word says we will give an account of our lives before Jesus. Truth be told...any excuse for not obeying isn't going to hold water.
We have a Savior who knows our hearts. He knows every secret of our hearts and minds. We cannot deceive Him with whom we have to do. We will deceive ourselves but never He who's Name is Truth.
Look at what you have included in your life. Ignorance is not going to be a defense when we have the Word of God to refer to. When the Word of God says something is sin then it is. When the Word of God says who will not inherit the kingdom of God...then those people will only see the fires of Hell. When we are told to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness its for more than our peace of mind its to grow us in Christ Jesus.
We must decide who we are going to be obeying. If it's Jesus then we're to give it our all. Dear Reader if it isn't Jesus...remember anything else will get our all as well.
As the challenge was said centuries ago so it is today "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15.
Choose either serving the Lord or serving your anything. You, if you are saved, have a ministry for you to fulfill.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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