Small to Big
Today's Daily Office Devotion comes from the Gospel Reading from the book of Luke. If you'd like to read something different, here are today's readings:
Jesus starts in Luke 19 with Zacchaeus. This passage is where the song comes from, "Zaccheus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he…" There's no indication that Luke 19:6 says, "Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy," (NLT). There's no indication that Jesus has left between that passage and today's reading, so as far as we know, Jesus is telling this Parable about the Ten Servants from Zacchaeus' house.
It's a great story; I'd encourage you to read it in its entirety. I've taken some key passages for our reflection:
It's a great story; I'd encourage you to read it in its entirety. I've taken some key passages for our reflection:
The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. He said, "A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, 'Invest this for me while I am gone.'
The first servant reported, 'Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!' "'Well done!' the king exclaimed. 'You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.'
"But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, 'Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn't yours and harvesting crops you didn't plant.' "'You wicked servant!' the king roared. 'Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I'm a hard man who takes what isn't mine and harvests crops I didn't plant, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.'" –Luke 19:11-13, 16-17, 20-23 NLT
Jesus said at the beginning that this story is about the Kingdom of God, specifically our relationship with the Kingdom of God. When we become people who help build the Kingdom, God gives us more to work with. This is made even more straightforward at the end of the story when Jesus says,
"'Yes,' the king replied, 'and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away." –Luke 19:26 NLT
You can apply this to any part of the spiritual life. To have a deep spiritual life, we must start by trusting God with small things. When we trust him, he will give us more to trust him with.
Let's use the local church as an example. When we use the local church in the ways God intends for it to be used, as a place to reach those far from God and bring them closer to him, he will bring more people.
Questions to Ponder:
- What's an area of your life you've seen God give you more because you've used what he's provided?
- How have you seen God multiply things in other people's lives?
- What's one area you'd like to challenge yourself to trust God more in?
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