Fuelled by Trust

In the second of my series on Things that Please God as gleaned from the parable of Jesus in Matthew 25:14-30 I'd like us to consider the role of the trust that a mentor or someone we care about has on fuelling our desire to do the right thing. The two servants that got their master's commendation, Far Out and Stand Tall (as I named them), said something while giving their report that caught my attention. "Master, YOU ENTRUSTED ME with five talents. See, I have gained five more,' enthused Far Out. His enthusiasm and delight just ooze out of the text. Master, you entrusted me. You entrusted me!

We live in a world where trust is scarce because people have trusted others and have been bitterly disappointed. There's so much cynicism around that were it edible, one could live on it for a year. People don't trust their children, friends and even spouses, as many a private investigator would attest. Advice like 'be careful who you trust' is the refrain of our times. Recently the football manager of a top national squad was duped by a reporter camouflaging as a friend to divulge damaging secrets of players under his watch. You bet he'll never trust another friend ever, you might say.

The business and financial world is even more lacking in trust. Contracts are rigged with disclaimer clauses to exlude companies and individuals from liability should deals go sour. The fine print is often much longer than the contract itself. The bank does not trust you to repay any loan that they give you. They make you sign your life away, just in case you are not able to repay.

It is therefore exciting to read in the passage under consideration that a businessman would ENTRUST funds to his servants without the mention of collaterals and legal paperwork. This business mogul trusted that his servants would excel and make profit. This says a lot about the businessman himself, but it is the servants that I wish to dwell on. Far Out and Stand Tall must have realized just how much their master cared about them and wanted them to succed. They must have sensed how much this man believed in them. He could have invested his money elsewhere. There must have been other ways that this magnate could have made money. Yet he chose to trust his servants with the job of investing his funds.

If you've ever been chosen for an important role in a play or in some sport, you will no doubt remember the euphoria of being chosen. The awareness that you could easily not have got the dream part would have propelled you to give the task your best shot. That is exactly what Far Out and Stand Tall did. They gave this investment the effort of a lifetime, and got rewarded for it.

Jesus came into the world to choose you. He says "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelations 3:20) He has made his invitation broad enough to include you. He trusts you enough to leave the decision of whether to accept or reject him in your hands. Even though Jesus is worth more than all earth could afford, he leaves it up to you to want him. He has chosen you. But would you choose him? Let his love and trust in your good judgement fuell you today to say 'yes' to his invitation. At the least, find out more about what Jesus offers you and don't presume to know it all already. That was the mistake that LeftOut made. He thought he knew all about the master and his uncaring, greedy ways, only to find out too late that Compassion and Promotion came calling, and he was not at home. The master planned all along to give it all back to his servants, but LeftOut, well, he missed out. It is your turn today to be fuelled by God's great love and his trust in you.

Things that please God

I have been AWOL from my blogs for a couple of weeks and it is a joy to return. In the next series of blogs, I will be dealing with the above topic using a familiar Bible story as my inspiration. You can read the Bible passage here then return to my page.

Living dangerously
In the story that we just read, we saw three servants. I’d like to give them names. The 1st servant, I’ll call Far Out. Let’s call the 2nd servant Stand Tall and the 3rd one Left Out. The master was pleased with Far Out and Stand Tall and we can see him commend and celebrate them. But not so for Left Out. He got the master’s harsh words and even punishment.

One reason that I think Left Out missed out on the good times was that he chose not to live dangerously. He preferred to sit within his comfort zone and not take any risks. Listen to what he said: “I was afraid……” His fear cost him his future. As I thought on this passage, I wondered what Left Out was afraid of. Perhaps you can think of a few reasons why this servant would have been afraid to invest his master’s money or even to deposit it in a bank. Here are a few of his reasons, I imagine.

“What if I invest the money and lose it all, then my master will be really mad at me!”
“I may not make any profit”
“I may make a profit and then my master will take it all away, leaving me with all the work and none of the profit”
“Investment is too risky. Something bad may happen to me as I jostle in the fierce market place”
“I don’t have what it takes. I’ll make a fool of myself”

You get the picture. I’m sure you are familiar with similar excuses in your own life, for these aren’t valid reasons for not launching out in search of dividends. They are excuses and in retrospect we see how lame these excuses are.

God is pleased with us when we take risks in search of what our heart longs for. In search of what we somehow know that we ought to be doing. Conversely He is displeased with us when we refuse to step on the water and we play it safe.

The next time that you give yourself an excuse for not doing something risky but necessary, check your motives. Can you afford to live life on your couch, dreaming of a good life but not willing to take the steps that guarantee such a life? What is your excuse? It is time to live dangerously and reap the rewards reserved for those who dare.

A cool trade off

We trade off lots of things in life to get what we want. We negotiate and compromise. Maybe it could be trading off an attractive job offer for a less dizzying one with ultimately more versatile choices. We could trade off living in an exclusive area of town to be nearer a parent or loved one. We trade off immediate pleasure for future rewards; like when in college, choosing to study rather than go partying so that we can make better grades. All these trade offs are regarded as the way to go. They are to be admired. They are 'cool'.

Jesus talked of a particular trade off that's definitely uncool. In the Bible, in Matthew's gospel, chapter 16 verse 26, he says

Matthew 16:26

What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul?

There's nothing that any of us can give in exchange for his soul. You know why? Because we did not acquire our souls. What you didn't purchase or acquire in any other way is not yours to give away.

In our experience in today's world we actually think that our life is ours to live or give away the way we like. We couldn't be more wrong! We are making uncool trade offs giving our life to pleasure, money, and other things. Anything but God! I want to quote a more extended version of the scriptures above.

Matthew 16:25-27

25If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it. 26What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul? 27The Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father and with his angels to reward all people for what they have done.

Jesus is telling us in these verses how to make cool trade offs. How to delay immediate gratification for future glory. He says that he will SOON come back to give rewards to ALL people for what they've done. What does he rather we do? Give up our lives, not for fame or fortune, but for HIM. We can all do that today because Jesus is everywhere, invisible but watching and listening, ready to assist anyone who asks for his help, on his own terms. We can talk to him and tell him that we want to take him up on his offer. We want to make HIS kind of trade off. Give our lives to him now and truly find them back, here and now, and more! When he comes with his angels receive rewards to which nothing on this earth could compare. That's some cool trade off. Don't you think?

For real

I'll admit it upfront. My worldview is shaped by my Christian faith. This means that at some point in my lifetime, I chose to think and live by the dictates of a man called Jesus Christ. Some call him a myth, others say he's just a made up story by religious leaders bent on controlling people for their own selfish means. Well, I have a simple response. Each one of us came into the world blank. We are shaped by our background, family ties or lack of them, by what people we respected told us, the schools we attended, by the books we read and so on. So, really very frankly we've all been brainwashed. Only that as we go along in life, we conciously or unconsciously choose who briainwashes us. We choose who we believe. You will realize that there are people in the world who have a sort of siege mentality. They see conspiracy theories everywhere. Others are not so extreme. They are actually rational and believe that there must be a scientific explanation for all observed events. There are others of Eastern leanings who believe in this or that energy ebbing and oozing through people, and that is what controls their destinies. Among all these competing voices, who or what guides our lives? Do we need a guide?

This blog is dedicated to attempting to answer these questions from the sayings of Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ is for real. He lived about 2000 years ago as most historians would agree. He said and did lots of amazing things. What gets me most about his life though was his love for ordinary people- the underdogs. I'm like that. I really love the underdogs and wish every day to do something to make them better or smarter or better able to take on the big guys. I love films like Braveheart and Gladiator for this reason. But that's not all that my blogs will be about. I will also be sharing my thoughts on other matters - politics, science, art, poetry and whatever else catches my fancy. I hope you'll join me. You're free to share your own thoughts on my blogs on one condition. Let's keep our comments civil and respectful. See you soon.