Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow?Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’” – Luke 19:12-27 NIV

Warrior;

The Parable of the Ten Minas is similar to the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14–30. Some people assume that they are the same parable, but there are enough differences to show that this is a different story, parable.  As a Matter of fact, I believe this story is more ‘in-line’ with the parable of the Sower and the Seed.  To me, this parable is about the WORD OF GOD, and what we do with the WORD OF GOD, thus what we do with JESUS! In Mark 4 we get the explanation of Jesus’ parable about the Sower and the Seed, and it ends with Mark 4:20: Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.” See also Matthew 13 and Luke 8 for their version of the same parable. Did you see the difference in return, some received 30-fold return, 60, or 100, just like in this parable they received different returns based on what they DID WITH IT!  What is it?  I believe the MINA is the WORD, just like the SEED is the WORD. 

Leader, have you TRULY received the WORD OF GOD? IF you have TRULY received it then you will want to share it! The Bible says the WORD OF GOD never returns void, it always accomplishes its purpose. As Isaiah 55:11 indicates, when he says that the Word of God will not return void, this means it will ultimately accomplish whatever purpose God intends it to (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35). God uses the metaphor of rain and snow to illustrate His point. When we receive the WORD OF GOD- JESUS, in our hearts, IT produces the INCREASE in us! See 1 Corinthians 3:6-9. It is God who produces within us a dedication to His authority, His leadership, His WILL, and HIS WAY. Our job is to WILL THIS TAKEOVER! God does NOT force Himself on anybody. We must desire HIS WORD, HIS WILL, HIS WAY, this brings in the seed and then it sprouts and does it’s work based on what we do with HIS SEED! When we receive Jesus into our hearts, when we truly hear Him, we learn that He is our help, He is our support, He is our strength. When we receive Jesus, the word of God, in our hearts, we become Sons\Daughters of God, children of the promise. We go from life to death, from darkness to light, from warring with GOD, to walking with GOD! We die to ourselves and are resurrected. This is the effect of the seed, the word of God, Jesus, that is sewn into good soil, hearts that are soft and willing to listen to Jesus. This allows us to bow to the lordship of Jesus. We receive everything we need from Him, we become LIKE HIM.

Conduit, in today’s parable of the Minas consider that Each servant had the same chance to qualify. No one was disadvantaged; no one was privileged. The opportunity for each was unlimited. In this case, each man is given the SAME. This parable is dealing with faithfulness in a matter of small value, that is what the MINA is compared to the TALENT. The Word of God doesn’t seem like something tangible or something great, but it is LIFE EVERLASTING! In this parable every man starts off the same. All are in the same category. God is NOT a respecter of persons, the foot of the cross is level. Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons . . .” (Acts 10:34) The Greek word that is translated as “respecter” is prosopolemptes. It means “to show favoritism.” Romans 3:23 tells us, we all fall short of the glory of God, and we all NEED A SAVIOR. The variable in this story, and in our lives, is the industriousness with which each applies themselves. While all have the same opportunity, not all work with the same zeal and determination. God tells us this, that we will be rewarded according to what we do with what we are given. Hear the Word of the Lord; For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48) We do not want to be the third person in this parable! This man just didn’t care enough to bother himself with his master’s orders. He went his own way. He remained indifferent to what his master required of him. But he didn’t get away with it. He too lost what he once had. He came to the end of his opportunity. No longer did he have a mina to use for his master. “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (Luke 8:10, John 1:12)