Afraid or Lazy?

Are you afraid of the world? Does your fear prompt you to ignore the Bible or hide your faith?

Here’s a parable of a man who was entrusted with responsibility, but his fear resulted in a lack of productivity.

Matthew 25:24-29 ²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

The man told his master he was afraid and so did nothing. However, his master told him he was wicked and lazy. If he was truly just afraid, he could have done the bare minimum of putting the gold in a bank. I also wonder if the man was hoping his master wouldn’t return, and if no one else knew where the master’s gold was, then the man could keep it himself and do as he pleased.

Do you and I do the same thing today? Do we think Jesus won’t come back in our life time and so we can live our own way for now? Or, are we afraid of the world? Or just plain lazy? If the bag of gold (or talent) was the Bible, is your Bible hidden? Or is it on the shelf collecting dust? Or is it being read and used to produce fruit in your life and the lives of those around you? 

God has entrusted each of us with the Bible. Will it multiply in abundance in your life?

Or, because of fear or laziness, will blessings and rewards be given to someone else instead of you?

Alice