Luke 12:48 … 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.
In 1991, I was teaching a home Bible Study in Northern Arizona to about 30 people. One of the subjects of our study together was this verse from Luke chapter 12.
“To whom much is given, much is required…”
One of the dear gentlemen in our group asked me a question that had been on his mind for many years. He wanted to know why the United States was always involved in the affairs of nations all over the world. His thinking was that the United States has enough of its own problems at home. He believed that we should take care of our own, before we ventured out into the world and spent America’s valuable resources.
When he asked me what I thought, I told him about this verse that Jesus had spoken and was recorded by Luke.
The United States is a nation that was brought into existence by the sovereignty of God. For a variety of purposes known only to God, the Lord chose to bless the men and women who first came to our land seeking freedom of religion and oppression by the British government.
The Lord has blessed the United States with more resources and highly trained people than any other nation on the earth. It is only right that as the Lord has given these abilities to us, that we should use them to bless and improve the lives of others around the world.
In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul described the fact that everything that we have in our lives, does not really come by our own ingenuity or wisdom. All the good things in life come from the hand of God who desires to bless us because He loves us so much.
1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
We might work hard at achieving a good education. We may excel at our work. Our investments may earn high returns. We may experience great prosperity and wealth in our life. But we should never believe for a moment that it was because of our talent, abilities or ingenuity that these things came to us. All that we have, we have received because God allows us to have it and enjoy these things. If we think, otherwise, we are naive or worse, ignorant. We put forth the effort and it is God who blesses these things and makes them turn out for success.
In our walk with the Lord today, it would be wise to stop and thank the Lord for all that we have already been able to enjoy in our life. To consider Him and acknowledge to Him, that we know that everything came from Him and are acts of His incredible kindness and generosity.
Even more important, we should remember that the Lord did not give all that we have for us to keep for ourselves. We should be willing to share our money, time and talents to bless other people and ministries that preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and teach God’s Word. When we learn of the need of someone, we should remember that “To whom much is given, much will be required.”
Rob Robinson
