So God can point to us
in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and
kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with
Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7 NLT).
It is one thing to think about God pointing at our lives as
an example to future generations of His incredible grace and kindness because
of what He has done for us through Christ.
It is quite another to have those future generations looking back at our
lives in light of what we did with all that God lavished upon us. How sobering to think of the ratio that would
emerge from such a comparison. Would our
accomplishments be a 1 to 10 on the scale of what we did versus what He gave
us? Or would be a 1 to 100, a 1 to
1000?
I guess the real question should actually be, not how much
we accomplished in ratio to the grace given, but what was the expectation? God does not leave us guessing when it comes
to that question but spells it out quite plainly:
When someone has been
given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been
entrusted with much, even more will be required (Luke 12:48 NLT).
The key to properly assessing what you’ve been given is not
quite as straightforward as we might like.
We cannot look around at what others have and decide whether we have
more or less because that would not take into account some of the critical
criteria by which we would need to make this determination. We must also take into consideration things such
as our physical ability, our sphere of influence, the wealth of the country in
which we are located, our quota of intelligence, our physical appearance, our
social platform, and so many other immeasurable measuring sticks that we soon
realize how impossible it is to really gauge how we are doing on the ratio of
what we’ve been given to what we do with it.
Before you throw in the towel and decide that this is impossible,
listen to how God measures the criteria and how we can stay on track to bring
the ratio to the place that pleases God:
Then
they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of
God?” Jesus answered them, ”This is the work of God, that you believe
in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29 NLT).
As crazy and inequitable as it may seem to our mortal mind,
God only measures our faith in what Christ did for us, not the works that we do
or don’t do for Him. So, when He says
that if someone has been given much, it is not about our material possessions,
but about our faith in Christ. And
that’s why God points the future generations to look at the things He has done
for us, instead of the things we have done for Him. Yet, when our faith in Christ is strong, so
will our work for Him be powerful and plentiful.
Today I am going to do the same thing the Apostles did when
they realized the discrepancy in the ratio of what God has done for them and what
they could ever do for Him: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our
faith!” (Luke 17:5 ESV). God, please
increase my faith so that I will be able to have more and, therefore, do more
for Your Kingdom during my time here on earth.
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