Numbers 18:1
“Then the LORD said to Aaron: “You, your sons, and your relatives from the tribe of Levi will be held responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary. But you and your sons alone will be held responsible for violations connected with the priesthood.”
The levites were one twelth of the people of Israel. God is giving them the responsibility of the priesthood and the sanctuary. This is making the peoples relationship to God a big deal. It’s not relegated to what anyone can put together, but a large fraction of the peoples resources are going to the priesthood. The people are still responsible for their own relationship with God.
God gives all of us something to do. Jesus used the parable of the talents to illustrate this. He gave some ten, five and one talent. They were told to invest it and bring the returns when the boss came back. The ones with ten and five invested theirs and doubled their returns. The last one buried and returned it with no increase.
The boss praised the first two and promoted them. The last one was punished. When we are responsible, we mature and gain more responsibility. This is a good thing. This type of maturity often causes people to own their own business when in their 40’s. They’ve mastered their trade and learned that they would make much more money by doing it themselves. Their diligent responsibility is paid off.
What was the problem with the employee that buried the talent? It’s described in Matthew 25:24,25 ‘“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ He was afraid.
Fear paralyzes us. Yet, the boss didn’t have any sympathy. He said something like, “You atleast could have put it in the bank. It could have been earning interest without any effort.” God doesn’t ask more of us than we are able to give. To avoid putting it in the bank is showing no interest. Was the poor employee afraid or was that an excuse? I would think God would understand fear. But it doesn’t make sense. The safest thing would have required little to no risk, put it in the bank. The bosses response makes me think it was an excuse.
This person hid the money and went back to a personal agenda. When we come to Christ, we make Him our lord. The rest of life is walking in relationship with Him. At times, we need help and He gives it. Other times, He prompts us to do something. Sometimes it’s easy. At other times it’s more difficult. We wrestle with Him. That’s ok, as long as we don’t ignore Him or get too stubborn. We have to yield to Him. Jacob needed an injury to finally give in (Genesis 32).
Fear paralyzes us. Yet, the boss didn’t have any sympathy. He said something like, “You atleast could have put it in the bank. It could have been earning interest without any effort.” God doesn’t ask more of us than we are able to give. To avoid putting it in the bank is showing no interest. Was the poor employee afraid or was that an excuse? I would think God would understand fear. But it doesn’t make sense. The safest thing would have required little to no risk, put it in the bank. The bosses response makes me think it was an excuse.
This person hid the money and went back to a personal agenda. When we come to Christ, we make Him our lord. The rest of life is walking in relationship with Him. At times, we need help and He gives it. Other times, He prompts us to do something. Sometimes it’s easy. At other times it’s more difficult. We wrestle with Him. That’s ok, as long as we don’t ignore Him or get too stubborn. We have to yield to Him. Jacob needed an injury to finally give in (Genesis 32).
It’s the ignoring of the task that’s not good. This person was probably not a believer. If so, just barely. Paul addresses this one in 1 Corinthians 3:15, “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” This is a dangerous place to be. We want to be like the one Peter reference in his second epistle, chapter 1:10,11 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” We don’t want to squeak in. We want to have the door wide open and have Jesus greeting us with a “Well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter into my joy.”
Lord, help us to do our duty. You’ve given us talents. Help us to use them to honor You.