It doesn’t seem appropriate — and maybe, it’s not a valid assessment — but it seems as if we’re in a competition.  It’s not a competition against each other, but a competition against ourselves to see if we can outdo ourselves in being most faithful, most serving, the most responsible to God.  And while that is true without a doubt, we constantly compare ourselves against one another in an effort to judge who is being the most faithful.  It typically comes across as our recognition that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are not only few, but unengaged with the work that has to be done.  And sometimes, even those who know they’re less active in their stewardship have no fear of standing before the world and shouting, “Don’t judge me.  You don’t know me.”  Neither do they seem to have a fear of standing before God as the practitioners of unfaithful, irresponsible servanthood.  And yet there is a truth spoken by Paul that proclaims that we will all give an account of ourselves before God.  God will be the judge of whether we were the best servant we were able to be, or whether we were an unworthy servant only worthy of being cast to the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  It seems — then — that even after every knee has bowed, and every tongue confessed, accounts will be required.

• What comes to your mind when you consider judgment in light of faithful servanthood?
• How does the idea of being held accountable for your life affect how you choose to live?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Holy and gracious God, plant within me the desire to be a faithful servant to You. Give me a heart to live accountably so that I may stand before You justified by Your grace.

         Several years ago, I was living in Lawrence, KS and doing work on behalf of the Lawrence Indian United Methodist Church.  While there I learned a valuable cultural lesson about honoring a gift that is given by indigenous people.  When a person is entrusted with a gift from an indigenous American, there is the expectation that the gift be honored.  It was their custom that in order to honor the gift, one is expected that the person receiving the gift tell the story honoring the person in whose name the gift was given.  It seemed to be a cultural custom related to indigenous Americans (Native American) people.  But upon closer examination, it seems to have a biblical background.

         It’s an honor to be entrusted with something that is not really yours.  And if entrusted with it, we have a responsibility to be faithful and accountable to honor that with which we’ve been entrusted.  And whether we get a reward for it or not, we still have a responsibility to be good stewards of the gift.  And whether or not we share the story or keep it to ourselves, neither situation absolves of accountability.  Our faithfulness is not dependent upon our accountability.  Our faithfulness will enable our accountability to have some value.  Knowing that we’ve done what we’ve been tasked to do enables us to live accountably.

• What responsibility ha you ever been tasked with and failing to be faithful, found that it did not relieve you from being held accountable?
• How do you respond when you realize that you are not living up to your potential?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Faithful God, help me in times of fear to live up to my fullest potential. Always keep me mindful that I must life responsibly because I am held accountable in all circumstances of life.

         It’s our nature to be cautious.  We hear from early in life, don’t touch this, don’t spill that, don’t take unnecessary chances.  We hear them so often that they become a large part of who we are.  And we’re given extra special warnings of concern when we’ve been given responsibility for something that doesn’t really belong to us.  Ringing in our ears and the back of our minds are the words, “BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!”

         But what if playing it safe is sometimes not the best advice we can take.  We’re not often given the opportunity to risk gambling with house money.  Usually, it’s our stuff that we gamble with and if we lose it or damage it beyond repair, then the loss is on us.  Yet we encounter a story of 3 servants and a Master that says, “Go for it.”  I’m entrusting you with something, that I’m fully aware that you’re capable of handling.  In fact, I’m only entrusting you with what I know you can handle.  So, do your best to be responsible because you will be held accountable.”

          Sometimes playing it safe when we’ve been given the ‘green light’ to go for it is an opportunity to prove to ourselves that we’re responsible.  It’s also an opportunity to live up to our fullest potential.  But failing to live up to our full potential is really failure.  It’s as much as saying we’re not even going to try.

         As faithful stewards of something that’s not ours — our life — we owe it to the person to whom our life belongs to give it our best faith effort.  And what our Master really wants is for our live to count for something and not be wasted or buried.  Does it mean that we will succeed?  Not necessarily.  But how we perceive our Master may have an impact on our willingness to live up to our fullest potential.  In reality, no matter what our views of our Master are, whether we’re successful in living up to our fullest potential or whether we fail miserably, we will be held accountable.  So, it pays a reward for us to live accountably.  We may find ourselves standing among those who hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.  Come into the joy of your master.”  The other option is much less attractive.

• Would you assess in your life that you’ve risked what God has entrusted to you or played it safe?
• If you’ve played it safe, what might you have lost by not risking it?
• If you’ve risked it, what have you gained by going for it, regardless of the cost?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, empower me to live my life to its fullest potential, risking what you’ve entrusted to me that I may stand before you accounted as a faithful and blessed to hear you say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”