Daily Verse
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Stewardship
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Tuesday's Reflection
Matthew 25:21 — His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Jesus told a parable about a man who went on a journey and entrusted his property to three servants — five talents to one, two to another, one to the last, each according to his ability. While the master was away, the first two servants put their talents to work and doubled them. The third, afraid, buried his in the ground and did nothing. When the master returned, he settled accounts. To the two who had been faithful, he said the words every servant longs to hear: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." But to the one who had buried his trust and done nothing, there was only rebuke. The issue was never how much each had been given. It was what they did with it.
Notice carefully what the master praised. He did not say "well done, thou brilliant and successful servant," or "well done, thou servant who earned the most." He said "good and faithful." The servant who started with two talents and the one who started with five received exactly the same commendation, because both had been faithful with what they had. God does not measure us against each other, or hold us responsible for gifts we were never given. He asks only that we be faithful with what is actually in our hands. The person with one talent is not judged for failing to have five — only for burying the one.
The most sobering part of the parable is the third servant. His sin was not that he wasted his talent in wild living or lost it through carelessness. His sin was that he did nothing with it. He played it safe, buried it, and handed it back unused. That is a warning worth taking to heart, because doing nothing feels harmless. We tell ourselves we are not doing any damage. But the buried talent is exactly what the master condemned. Stewardship is not mainly about avoiding misuse; it is about active faithfulness — putting what God has given us to work, however small it seems, rather than burying it out of fear.
Prayer: Lord, save us from the sin of the buried talent — from playing it safe and doing nothing with what You have given us. Help us to be faithful, not fearful, putting our gifts to work however small they seem, that we might hear Your "well done." Amen.