By Tyler Hewitt

We all want to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” These will be the words uttered from the King as we enter the throne room of Grace. However, to hear this praise, God expects a return on what he has given us.

A servant (Greek: doulos) is a slave or bondman. A slave is property to something greater and owns nothing. His master is the owner of everything. We are servants or slaves to the Master. We do not own anything. God is the owner and we are merely the stewards of what He has bestowed to us. God has given each of His children a special gift. He gifted us with at least one spiritual gift to be used to further His kingdom here on Earth.

Therefore, God expects a return on His investment. He has invested in us. As the parable in Matt 25 of the three servants, two did well and doubled the investment as one did nothing. It is easy to focus on the two that did well but we need to consider the one who did nothing. He was called ‘unprofitable, useless, lazy, or good for nothing.’ That is a far reach from ‘good and faithful.’

We must remember that God does not make impossible demands. We are not called to be afraid as this servant was of his master (Matt 25:25). We are to be diligent servants who ‘keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord’ (Rom 12:11).

God holds us accountable for the gifts he has graciously given to us. There will either be praise or rebuke and removal at the time of his return. When God audits your book and looks at your return, will you be rewarded “well done, good and faithful servant” or be unprofitable and rebuked and cast into darkness?

Tyler is the Administrator of Information Technology for PBTPNG.