At The Movies | Wednesday

This Week's Focus: 

As followers of Christ, we are to look to Him instead of to other people. Keeping our eyes on Jesus allows us to enjoy Him more now and forever.

“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!’

Matthew 25:21 NLT

Digging a little deeper into the countercultural idea of focusing on Jesus rather than on others' paths, Christ's teaching in Matthew takes it a bit further than the parable of the three servants. The takeaway from this story is that faithfulness is far more important than the measure of success. When Jesus tells this parable, He does not offer more praise to the first servant than to the second, even though the first had more resources; He values them both equally because, regardless of outcomes, they were faithful in their respective stewardship.

Comparison inevitably leads us to distort what actually matters most in life. That can lead us to chase the new, the expensive, or whatever the next "in" thing is, perpetuating discontentment and emptiness. Jesus is teaching in a different way, replacing comparison with obedience.

Being faithfully obedient to what God has called you to means that the result will be in God's hands and not yours. In doing so, we learn to trust Him to provide and bless us as the good Father that He is.

"Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else."

Galatians 6:4 NLT

Lord, help me to be faithful with what you have given me. Guide me in letting go of my need to control the results. I love you Lord, and I praise you for all you have done! Amen.

Join us tomorrow as we explore what it means to keep our eyes on Jesus.