Unprofitable Servants

Read Luke 16-18

Luke 17:10 says, "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."  We get more feedback than we need from everyone around us.  Parents tell their children how they can improve.  Children tell their parents how they are falling short.  We get evaluations regularly at work and criticism often.  Strangers feel free to tell us when we fail to meet their expectations.

Even when we aren’t being criticized, we look for measures of how well we’re doing.  Do we have the same things others have?  Do people seem to like us?  Are we dependable?  We want to know we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.

But God wants us to seek higher than that.  He wants us to look for ways to do more than the minimum.  If we settle for doing our duty, we are unprofitable servants.  It’s when we find the little extras to do that we will be “good and faithful” servants.

Tomorrow’s reading: Luke 19-21