To be Faithful is to be Fruitful

by: Dr. Laurence A. Mascay

​In the book of Luke, a parable is told by Jesus about a king who gave ten of his servants a bag of money each before traveling to a country far away. The king commanded them, “Do business with this money until I come back.” The story is about God entrusting His resources to His stewards for them to be faithful. In this parable, faithfulness is not doing the same thing over and over again, rather, faithfulness is reflected as being very productive. When the king came back, the first servant who gave an account was found to be faithful or very productive by earning ten bags of money with the one bag of money he received and invested. As a result, the king said to him, “Well done! You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.”
 
To be faithful or productive in our day-to-day affairs is to know why we do what we do or as the popular TV commercial says, “Para kanino ka bumabangon?” That is to know God and His Son Jesus Christ and to glorify Him through the things that we do. Consequently, when we know the purpose of why we wake up each day, our lives becomes exciting and productive - not a  mere monotonous cyclic routine. Tim Challies, a noted speaker, says, “Productivity is effectively stewarding your gifts, talents, time, energy, and enthusiasm for the good of others and the glory of God.”
 
Each one of us has been entrusted by God with a lot of things - life, health, family, work, money, business, etc., wherein we are expected to be faithful. Such faithfulness has to be shown in the quantity and quality of outcomes or results of our labors, for one, as we fulfill our duties and responsibilities as civil servants. Moreover, promotions, incentives, or accolades are natural results of the faithfulness of good stewards and they come in God’s favor. Asaph, an author of the book of Psalm, says, “Promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. God is the judge. He decides who will be important; he lifts one person up and brings another down.”  
 
Let us continue to give our best shots and seek to be faithful or very productive in what is entrusted to us like the good and faithful servant in the story of Jesus. Because when we are faithful to little things, we will be entrusted with greater things. To be faithful then is to be fruitful.