Am I remembering that I will be rewarded in heaven in proportion to my stewardship here?

12  He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13  So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' 14  "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' 15  "He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16  "The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 17  "'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' 18  "The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.' 19  "His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.' 20  "Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21  I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.' 22  "His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23  Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?' 24  "Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.' 25  "'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!' 26 "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.

INSIGHT:   Jesus is the man of noble birth who became King in this parable, and then went away. The “subjects”, which means “sons” were the Jews who hated Him and did not want Him to be king over them.  Yet, we see that some became servants to Him, whom He gave resources to invest on His behalf and said He would come back to find out what they did with them.  What a shocking day that will be for so many, who as “subjects” have despised The King of Kings!

In Mat 8:11-12, Jesus said many gentile believers would take their places at the feast in heaven, while the “subjects” of the kingdom (the Jews) will be thrown outside into the darkness.

The Jews rejected Jesus and He turned to the gentiles, so this teaching now has a much wider scope that reaches also to us the Gentiles.  In Heb 2:8, it says, “in putting everything under Him (Jesus), God left nothing that is not subject to Him.  Yet at present time we do not see everything subject to Him.” 

The way I see it in Scripture, there are only two kinds of people, “subjects” who despise the King and reject Him, and “subjects” who humble themselves agreeing to become His servants.  And of those who become His servants, not all are found faithful.  Jesus gives ten servants ten minas, but then only mentions that two of them were faithful to get Him a return.  The third one buried his mina and was judged to be wicked.

In 1 Cor 12, we learn there is One Spirit but different gifts, different service, and different working, and that to each of us, gifts are given for the common good of others.  For a full list of gifts, see 1 Cor 12:4-11, 27-31, 1 Pet 4:10-11, Rom 12:6-8. These are our “minas”, and no matter how few or many we have received, God expects us to grow that investment He made in us.  In 2 Tim 1:6, Paul told Timothy to fan into flame the “gift” that was in Him.  That means the original gift was little, and Timothy was to increase it, just like these two faithful servants did with the minas they were given.  They multiplied God’s original gifting to them.

Not everyone is called into full-time vocational ministry, but Jesus expects all of us to use the gifts He gave us, to earn a nice return for Him upon His return.  My wife used her domestic gift of serving me every day, freeing me up to do this work and more.  Just think of the return Jesus Christ will receive from her domestic mina of service to me, as I served you.  Are you remembering that what you do, and what you don’t do here, will echo throughout all of eternity?