Tell Me a Story: Devotions From Time of Grace MinistryCampione

STORY #4: Busted! These are marks of a child: procrastination, living in dreams instead of reality, excuses, and the fantasy that the day of accountability will never come. “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? 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’” (Matthew 25:26,27). The master saw through the excuses and judged correctly that Mr. One Talent had betrayed his trust. Money that is not invested loses its value to inflation, and so even giving it back on the day of reckoning involved theft. The certainty of the coming final day of reckoning should bring about three impulses in our hearts. First, shame and embarrassment for all the times we have thought and acted like the wicked employee. Second, heartfelt gratitude for the forgiveness that Jesus brings so that we will be spared that type of condemnation. Third, sober awareness of the shortness of time and a determination to make our lives count for something. Don’t put it off. The day might be today.