The one who faithfully manages the little he has been given will be promoted and trusted with greater responsibilities. — Luke 16:10 TPT
According to the words of Jesus, if we are steadfast, dependable, trustworthy, honest, and diligent, and if we live by integrity and multiply what we currently manage, we’ll be given greater responsibilities.
Simply put, when we multiply with integrity, God entrusts us with more responsibility.
He promotes us. It’s a law of His Kingdom.
Do a personal checkup. Do you have a multiplying outlook? Or have you carried more of a maintenance mentality? Have you coasted when you hit the level of success you viewed as higher than most — better than your parents, or enough to live on comfortably?
Be honest in your assessment. If you’ve been more of a maintainer than a multiplier, the great news is this: You still live on the earth and have time to change, multiply, and ultimately be given more responsibility.
Two Different Outcomes
Even when I was a young boy, it wasn’t hard for me to recognize these two opposite motivations of maintainer versus multiplier, because my two grandfathers exemplified the differences right before my eyes. One retired at the age of sixty-five and entered a docile lifestyle. He’d visit our home two weeks a year, and I would observe him, day by day, doing practically nothing. He would sit under our big maple tree in the backyard and smoke his pipe. It wasn’t much different when we visited at his home. Sadly, in his later years, he seemed to have settled for existing rather than living.
My other grandfather retired at the age of sixty-two and started what seemed like his second life. In his sixties, he attended Rutgers University and studied agriculture. Over the next couple of decades, he wrote two books, built and maintained a large garden, raised animals, helped bring condominiums to the Florida beaches to create nice places for older people, and was active in many corporate and community projects. He always reached out to help anyone who was in need.
When he visited us or we visited him, it was a much-anticipated event. He planned fishing trips, days at amusement parks, and trips to New York City. He played games with us, took us to meet neighbors, helped local businessmen with tasks in their shops, and cooked us a delicious meal every night. My other grandfather didn’t even help around the kitchen.
One grandfather died at age seventy-five, the other at age ninety-one. Can you guess who lived longer? Yes, the one who had a vision, the one who multiplied.
And here’s an interesting fact: Not until he was eighty-nine did he receive salvation. Even so, beforehand, he still lived according to God’s principles — the laws of the Kingdom — and was abundantly blessed.
Before I had the privilege of leading him to Jesus, my grandfather persecuted me a lot about my beliefs. He mocked my faith almost every time we were together. After numerous attempts to share the gospel with him, I almost fell over when he finally said, “I want to receive Jesus as my Lord.” It was a great day!
One month after his conversion, I again visited him. At the time, he lived only an hour away from our house. He’d just moved from his condominium on Daytona Beach to an adult community living center in Ormond Beach, where several hundred elderly people were living. On that visit, he said, “John, would you like to know my assignment? What I’m on this earth to do?”
I was amazed that a newly saved man at his age thought this way. But I simply responded, “Yes, Grandpa, what’s your assignment?”
He said with a smile, “The Holy Spirit told me I’m here to tell all these people about Jesus Christ.”
Two years later, my mom and her brother moved my grandfather to Oklahoma to be close to his only son. The first week there, he stayed up all night telling his newly assigned nurse his life story. In the wee hours of the morning, just before sunrise, he said to her, “It’s time to go home. Tell my son to have a party on me.” With that, he left his body and joined his heavenly family.
My mom was troubled and concerned that they’d put too much stress on him with the move from Florida to Oklahoma. I quickly assured her that they’d done no such thing: “Mom, when Grandpa was eighty-nine, he told me God showed him that he had two more years on earth to fulfill his assignment in Ormond Beach. This was his first week in Oklahoma; his assignment was complete.” My mother was both comforted and amazed.
Although my grandfather was an unsaved man for much of his time on earth, God’s principles of diligent faithfulness manifested in his life. In witnessing the different choices of my two grandfathers, even before I was a believer, I had determined that my life would follow the course of my grandfather who multiplied and lived with purpose until his last breath.
But let me be frank.
- Numerous times the temptation to veer the other way — to a life of ease — has arisen. It takes intentional redirecting of our thoughts to not succumb to a “maintainer” lifestyle — because merely maintaining is so much easier.
Multiplication will not result from a slothful, hesitant, careless, or apathetic motivation. We’re told by the apostle Paul,
Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. — Romans 12:11
Notice that this is a command, not a suggestion. Look at his words: “work hard.” In order to multiply, this is one of the first traits you must exhibit. And not only are we to work hard, but we’re also to be enthusiastic in our labor.
Don’t get me wrong; faith, vision, and perseverance are three important factors of multiplying. But they’re of no use without good old-fashioned hard work.
What are some strategies you can follow to fight the common temptation to seek a life of ease and to be only a “maintainer” of your gifts from God? In what ways could you be more intentional about working harder and enthusiastically in what God has called you to do — by His power and with His giftings?
To identify good strategies for this, think back to a time when you slacked off or coasted unnecessarily, rather than working hard and enthusiastically at a task God had placed before you. What influences or conditions made it easier to do this? How can you successfully resist such factors in the future?
Lisa and I have worked diligently almost from the day we became believers. It’s hardwired within us — and the same is true for every believer. Our enthusiasm has been driven not by external circumstances, but by a deep passion stemming from two things: our unfaltering love for Jesus and our love for His people. This passion is based on a firm heart decision, not feelings, and it fuels a burning desire to build His kingdom. This is so important because excited emotions will not always be present. In fact, seasons may come in which those feelings aren’t present at all.
One of the root words for enthusiasm is the Greek word éntheos, which means “possessed by a god, inspired.”1 Our diligence must be drawn from His indwelling presence, not from emotions or external circumstances.
1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “enthusiasm,” accessed October 20, 2024, https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/enthusiasm.
Excerpted with permission from You Are Called by John Bevere, copyright John P. Bevere.
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Your Turn
Are you working hard unto the Lord? Get enthusiastic! Get passionate to do your very best for the Kingdom of God! Multiply! ~ Devotionals Daily