Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
Matthew 24:45-47 NIV
In this chapter, Jesus answered his disciple’s questions concerning the temple’s destruction and his return. And at the end of his fascinating, and much-debated, response to them is this passage about being a faithful servant.
As the master of a household prepared to leave on a journey, they left a servant with the responsibility of providing for the other servants. The passage then provides two possible outcomes. In the first, the servant was faithful to the task they had been given and was rewarded when the master returned. And in the second, he ignored the master’s instruction and faced judgment when the master returned unexpectedly.
Jesus is the master who is away. And we are the servants he has left behind to carry out the tasks assigned to us. Jesus is returning someday, although we do not know when that will be. But the date of his return is unimportant. What is important is what we do while we wait. As we wait, are we faithfully serving him? If so, there will be a reward when he returns. If we are not faithful to what he has given us to do, we will face judgment upon his return.
As faithful servants, we should live in expectation of his return at any moment, always faithfully fulfilling the task he has left us here to do. Don’t let this world’s concerns, distractions, and pleasures distract you from your faithfulness to the master. Be a faithful and wise servant whose master will find faithfully serving when he unexpectedly returns.
