Luke 19:11-27

The more you use your gifts for God, the more responsibility He will give you in the Kingdom and the more rewarding your life will be.

Wasted opportunity and neglect of what God has gifted you to do results in loss of reward and possibly even privilege of service to Him.

A good practice is to wake up each morning asking yourself, “What is the point of my entire life?” And then living that day accordingly.

The faithful servants in this story obeyed their master out of trust in him. The unfaithful servant was scared of his master.

“Nothing twists and deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God.”            -A.W. Tozer

Proverbs 4:18-19

It’s actually easier to live a life of righteousness than one of sin because that is the way God designed life. To be lived for Him. It’s a challenge to live for Him in this world, but not overly difficult. What’s hard is what we’ve got–the world’s given way.

The challenges are summed up well, I believe, in this paragraph by Thomas Keating:

The consequences of original sin according to traditional theology are three: illusion, concupiscence, and weakness of will. Illusion means that although we are irresistibly programmed for boundless happiness in a way that is inherent to human nature, we do not know where true happiness is to be found. Concupiscence means that we seek happiness in the wrong places or too much happiness in the right places. And finally, if we ever reach the point of finding out where true happiness is to be found, our will is too weak to pursue it.

True help comes only through metanoia (repentance), which is where we turn from where we are looking for happiness, to God alone for it, and for everything. Redemption comes when you realize and admit that you really cannot redeem yourself. When you consent to God and rely on Him, in trusting faith, for energy and for the animation of your very life.

When we do live for Him, we are in line with His purposes, and therefore at peace in all circumstances.

In living for self, you are looking over your shoulder to see who might be trying to steal what you feel is yours or take your place. You’re always looking ahead in order to locate who may be higher than you in some coveted area of life. This is a life of toil and a burden of the heaviest kind.

Yeshua’s burden is light. [Mt.11:28-30]