Blessing in Change

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BLESSINGS IN CHANGE

Luke 19:11-27

11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 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. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them — bring them here and kill them in front of me.'" 

NIV

The first and foremost thing we must remember is that this is a parable; thus, it has nothing to do with money but everything to do with the gospel.  We also should note that some people at that time thought Jesus would be king over Jerusalem by overthrowing the Roman oppressors. We should also remember the Jews hated Jesus and did not want him to be their king, so they killed him, or at least had the Romans do it for them. However, the whole of this parable is regarding the fact that Jesus gave us the gospel, and it is what we do with it that is the point. It is true that some of us humans have more abilities than others, that is just a simple fact. Although God created all mankind equal, some have invested more time and study in the gospel and made more changes in their lives than others have. This is not about who has gained a better position in the body of Christ, or who has gained a higher degree of education in the bible, but who has made the gospel more effective in their own lives. How have we invested the gospel that Jesus gave us within ourselves? From the parable, we can know some have made more changes in their lives than others, and as we use the gospel, the grace of God, which in this case, this grace would be how the divine influence of God, as seen in the gospel, is upon our hearts, and how that influence is reflected in our lives. How much have we changed under the grace of God? What is sad, is there might be some who either grew up in a Christian setting, or accepted Jesus later in life, found salvation, as it were, and never invested their knowledge of the gospel, going any further in their walk with Jesus, more or less, just hiding the gospel in their hearts, never expanding the grace of God within them. We always have to be doing just that, investing, expanding the grace of God within ourselves, and becoming all that God intended us to be. The more we change the more we receive greater blessings just by the sheer changing within us.