This is the concluding part of the series on the message, ‘This is my Servant’ which we started two weeks ago. In this edition, we shall insightfully explore possible rewards accruable to faithful servants, using Jesus’ parable of the faithful servant and the adventurous master, a typology of Christ Jesus outlined in Matthew 24: 45-47, as our biblical warrant text.
According to the Complete Christian Dictionary, “a reward is something received as a result of obedience or good service”. It can be a gratification for hard work as well. The connotation of reward to obedience as presented by the dictionary above is supernaturally significant. This is because obedience is not only a godly virtue that drives reward, but also the underlying philosophy that guarantees reward in most circumstances of life.
The above fact is biblically justified by the following scripture:
“The ordinances of the Lord are sure and together righteous. In them there is great reward” (Ps. 19:9,11).
This implies that service in itself is an ordinance in the sight of God, considered righteous in every sense of it. So, those entrusted with the task of rendering service are consciously expressing God’s righteousness. In this direction, a servant who renders honest service to God and humanity is dispensing God’s measure of righteousness, while service is, at this level, a sacred thrust.
In the context of Matthew 24: 45-47, the reward for service hinges on diligent application of time, by the servant. The sensitivity of the servant to the return of the master and his consciousness to the time of his master’s return are the secrets of receiving great reward from the master.
The spirit, which leads to disaster, is the spirit which says that there is plenty of time. It is the comfortable delusion of the servant in our text above, that he will have plenty time to put things right before his master returns. For him, there was no need to think of his master’s return for a long time yet. The most dangerous of all delusions is that there is plenty of time, and the most dangerous day in a man’s life is when he learns that there is such word as ‘tomorrow’. In the course of service, there are definitely things which cannot be put off, for no man knows if, for him, tomorrow will ever come.
The reward for service can be lost in the event of procrastination.
The second thing to note about the servant and his service in our text is that rejection is based on failure in duty and reward is based on fidelity in duty. The servant, who fulfilled his duty faithfully, was given still a greater place; and the servant who failed in his duty was dealt with in severity. When Jesus Christ comes, can he find us employed in no better and greater task than in doing our duty? If a man is doing his duty, however simple that duty may be, on the day the master (employee) comes, there will be joy for him. For a child of God, in the day Jesus Christ returns, there will be greater joy for him. It is awfully sad to note that in recent times, our society is full of servants who care less about the presence or the return of his master, but cares much about the exit of the master from the scene of service. This perhaps accounts for the volume of truancy (shirking and arbitrary absence from duty post), total negligence and abuse of rules of engagement experienced in both secular (public and private) and ecclesiastical services today. To such people, the obvious must happen: blessing and honour for faithful servant, while gnashing of teeth and regrets awaits the unfaithful servant.
It is important to note that the concept of diligence is a divine criterion for reward in service. By diligence, we mean; putting care and effort into what one does. The scriptures of the Old and New Testament emphatically recommends the principle of diligent as a sine qua non for progress and prosperity in life. Thus the book of Proverbs 10:4; 21:5 expressly confirms this.
In fact in “labour setting”, the diligent head always rules while laziness leads to forced labour. Apostle Paul in Hebrews 6:11 further emphasised the expediency in demonstrating diligence because it is the final realisation of the ends of service, which is the hope of every servant.
The best rule of service which elicits reward is the admonition of Peter to all Christians and by extension to the entire human race (1 Peter 1:5-8).
Only God can adequately reward us for our service in Him. Therefore, do not grow weary in serving the Lord and humanity.
