Saturday Reading: Luke 17:7-10
Key Verse: Luke 17:10
10 So likewise you, when you shall have done all the things commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, for we have done what we ought to do.
Devotion:
I know that many people nowadays have not had the experience of having a servant around the house so many cannot relate to this sort of parable without some sort of an explanation. The servant, in those days, was expected to do certain duties for which they were paid for in some manner. Nowadays we all try to work for a living and when we are working we are expected to do the work that we are supposed to do because we are being paid for it... But there are certain duties for which we do not get physically paid for and those are things such as bringing up families and caring for others. For these sorts of things we do not expect any reward and we do what is required not because we have to but because we want to.
There are always things within any walk of life that we do because we want to rather than those that we have to do. In any job we often find that we are able to do more than is required and we do it because it makes us feel good. If we are doing things like that just to get some sort of reward then we may well end up being very disappointed when we find that we are not getting the reward that we wanted but rather the reward that our employer thinks we should get. When we set the standards of reward rather than the employer we can only get disappointed!
God has given each one of us the ability to do things in our lives. We may find that we cannot do those things throughout our lives because we grow old so doing what we can when we can is a good policy. God also expects us to do certain things because we have accepted Him as our Master. We must not be the ones dictating what we should get as a reward because God alone knows what we actually do deserve. We could never repay the debt that Christ has already paid for us so why should we expect God to give us amazing profits when we do what is required?
Points to Ponder:
Do you do just what is required or all you can?
Are you serving God?
