Are you on the move or dug in?

Writing in The Living Faith, Lloyd C. Douglas tells a story I just had to share with you about Thomas Hearne en route to the mouth of the Coppermine River …

“… [Hearne] wrote that a few days after they had started on their expedition, a party of Indians stole most of their supplies. His comment on the apparent misfortune was: ‘The weight of our baggage being so much lightened, our next day’s journey was more swift and pleasant.’

“Hearne was in route to something very interesting and important; and the loss of a few sides of bacon and a couple of bags of flour meant nothing more than an easing of the load. Had Hearne been holed in somewhere, in a cabin, resolved to spend his last days eking out an existence, and living on capital previously collected, the loss of some of his stores by plunder would probably have worried him almost to death.”

Douglas concludes with this insight: “How we respond to ‘losing’ some of our resources for God’s work depends upon whether we are on the move or waiting for our last stand.”

Most of us are holed up in our homes, venturing out just to our jobs and other necessary quests, only to scurry back to our dens, switch into baggy sweat pants and flop in front of the television, escaping the world until we must wander out again. It’s a lifestyle that fosters a “hoarder” mentality, a mindset that we must store up what we earn and gather, releasing it slowly as we eek out our secluded existence.

There is a problem with this lifestyle, which is that our lives and our resources were all designed to be spent for the glory of God.

Read closely the following scripture as Jesus teaches us a parable about three servants. Look closely at the expectation of stewardship from this story …

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last — dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

“After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” Matthew 25:14-30.

Are you on the move for the Kingdom and glory of God? Or are you dug in? Are you hoarding yourself and your God-given resources, or investing in lives on behalf of Jesus Christ?

Scotty