NOVEMBER 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Conclusion:JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 NOVEMBER 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  Conclusion:JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Lord and Savior, my Redeemer, You are the Prince of Peace, and it is Your Sacrifice that I owe my Eternal Life to — for it was the Shedding of Your Blood, the Blood of the Only Begotten Son of Father God in Heaven that Bought my Salvation and was the Propitiation of all my past, present, and future iniquities — and because of those things that my Gracious and Merciful God GAVE to undeserving sinners such as I, that I can now look forward with Hope to my future and no longer fear death — for God Almighty through the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God has freed us from the condemnation of sin and we can enter into His Kingdom and the Joy of the LORD!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus uses the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) to remind us that regardless of our situation in life that God has bestowed on our individual lives everything that we need to live an abundant life — but least we forget where all blessings come from, the Parables and Lessons that Jesus has been Teaching in this Passover Week in the final days before His Crucifixion is that (1) He is Coming Again!!! (2) When He RETURNS there will be the “settling of accounts” (3) and depending on the “Choices” we have made with our God-given Gift of Freewill, we will either suffer the “great tribulation” or we will enter into “the joy of the Lord”. (4) God will not “judge” us for by our own choices and actions we are “witnesses against ourselves” and God at the “end of the age” will administer our just rewards and penalties that were foreordained before the foundation of the world. Jesus has Taught again and again that there will be a “Judgement Day” and God Himself has shown from generation to generation that He has a Plan! God reveals Himself to everyone that seeks knowledge of Him. God has given us His Holy Word through the lives of individuals that were Divinely inspired to write the TRUTH OF GOD. God has through writings of individuals under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit documented His Plan of Salvation for all to read in the Holy Scriptures. God has sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus to be born of a virgin in order that Jesus could become flesh and Live the Perfect Life and that as the Lamb of God, Jesus could through His Death and the Shedding of His Precious Blood be the only Acceptable Sacrifice in the Eyes of The Holy and Just God for the sins of the world, a world of sinners that God loved enough to send the Messiah to save! When we read the parables we must read the “bottom line” and understand that it is our actions that will gain us the “reward” of hearing God Himself say to us “Well done, good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your lord.”(Matthew 25:23) or “Cast the unprofitable servant {who was not a faithful, wise, and watchful servant} into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30) If we only read the Lessons that Jesus Taught in His Last Week on Earth, there would be enough knowledge of God and the Kingdom of Heaven to know that God’s Plan of Salvation includes the Blood Sacrifice of the Lamb of God which God Himself had promised that He Himself would “provide the sacrifice”, a Promise from God which was fulfilled with the Life, Death, Burial, and RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ!!! Jesus came and obeyed the Father’s Will, suffered at the hands of His own people and died on a Cross at Calvary, was buried in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and as Jesus had stated clearly several times before His Death, on the Third Day He would be Resurrected by God and then Ascend into Heaven and sit at the Right Hand of God —— until that time when God sends the Bridegroom to get His Bride and THEN THE FINAL JUDGEMENT!!! There is no confusion to any that study the Holy Scriptures that no one can stay the hand of God and if God declares it, it will be done! There is no excuse, we have been given every opportunity to know God for He has “Revealed Himself” to us, and at the “end of the age” when Jesus “Returns” God will “settle accounts” — God has provided each with a menu, but we must choose what meal we will eat — will you eat at the table prepared by the King of Heaven and Earth and hear the joyful sounds of the wedding feast and “enter into the joy of the Lord” or will you choose to eat of the bitter, molded bread of selfishness which we must partake of as a result of providing for ourselves, a lonely meal which will be served in darkness and the only sound the unrepentant will hear will be the “weeping and the gnashing of teeth”!?!?!?!?!?!?  

NOVEMBER 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 NOVEMBER 12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS You alone are greatly to be praised for You are the Only Begotten of the Father        who Obeyed the Father’s Will and was the Only Acceptable Sacrifice for the sin of the world. Lord Jesus, where would we be without You becoming the Lamb of God, yeah our Passover Lamb to deliver us from the bondage of slavery to sin? Lord, You said plainly on the Cross as You were Suffering in Agony for our transgressions — “IT IS FINISHED” — O Blessed thought that everything that needed to be done to remove the shackles of sin from us has been accomplished and all we have to do is to choose to remove our shackles of sin by using the “key” of Jesus Christ and letting Him remove our sin and toss it into the depths of the sea — removing our sin from us as far as the East is from the West! Thank You Lord Jesus, forgive me my daily iniquities and then grant unto me the daily Bread of Life that is Your Word!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus makes it clear in the Parable of the Talents that everything we have in the way of “provisions” come from God but we must choose how to use them, either to satisfy self or to glorify THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD!!! Those that choose to use the provisions they receive from God for the Glory of God are rewarded BY GOD! Jesus had just said that the [Master] had given to each of “his own servants” talents “according to [their] own ability” and then “Immediately the [Master] went on a journey.” (Matthew 25:14-15) Jesus next lists in the Parable of the Talents what each “servant” did with what the [Master] had given each “servant” (Matthew 25:15-18) and then Jesus comes to the main point of the parable: “After a long time the lord [the Master] of those servants came and settled accounts with them.” (Matthew 25:19)  This is a very HUGE statement by Jesus about God’s Plan of Salvation for all of mankind that we should stop and look at very carefully! This HUGE statement has been told in many other ways by Jesus therefore the “statement” is not new, but this “statement” made at this time (just before His “Last Supper”) and the fact that Jesus makes the “statement” and then goes into very graphic detail of the “Consequence” of the “Actions” we choose for ourselves relative to the “talents” God has given us. His “expectations” as expressed in God’s Law of Choice and Consequence clearly states the we are free to “Choose” what “Path to Take” but God has already established the “Consequence” or “what lies at the end of the Path” — therefore, our “Actions” either “Commend” or “Condemn” us to God the Judge. To be Fair and Equitable to all generations God has declared the “Consequences” to be Firm and Fixed for all time! Jesus states “the facts”: “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord [the Master] said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord [the Master].” (Matthew 25:20-21) Here is where I always stop and desire greatly to live my life according to these principles of the Parable of the Talents (1) God gives us what is necessary to live an abundant life (2) We have also been given Freewill and can choose for ourselves what “paths we take” and what we will do with His Gifts He has provided to each of us (3) God will require an “accounting” of our Actions (4) God will reward the “faithful and wise servant” and (5) if we prove ourselves “faithful” to God with the little things He gives us, then we will be made “rulers” over many things. (6) Faithful and Wise Servants who elect to be “His own servants” and which I am certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that “THE MASTER’S JOY” will be a GREATER JOY than can possibly be imagined! This would be a good time to reflect over these simple facts and let them become your HOPE as they have become mine, for I strive to be found “serving Him faithfully” so that WHEN HE RETURNS I will be found doing those things that HONOR GOD and God will Commend me and I will hear God [the Master] Himself say as He puts His Own Hand on my shoulder, “WELL DONE, THY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT”!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOVEMBER 11 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 NOVEMBER 11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, You are Gracious and Merciful to all that will accept Your Grace and Mercy — O Lord why do we refuse the Gift God has Sacrificed so much to give?!?! Lord, I believe that there is no other Way but the WAY that You declare as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Lord when we think we are to strong individually to believe in Your Great Sacrifice then I pray for Divine weakness to humble us before the LORD — Lord there is none like Thee and Lord we are foolish to think that we do not need to follow the Creator of Life in order to know how to live our life as You have designed us to live! Lord I humbly bow before You admitting my shortcomings and pray that Your Mercy and Your Grace be showered upon me and if it be Thy Permissive Will, that I will be a faithful and wise servant of THE MASTER!!!!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus shows us in the Parable of the Talents that all our “talents” are gifts bestowed on us by the “Master” but let us not miss the fact that the “Master” knows each of us personally and the gifts that the “Master” bestows on us are “according to [our] own abilities” — Only an All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and All-Loving Master could know each of us personally and our individual abilities enough to give us exactly what we need. The Parable of the Talents then amplifies God’s knowledge of each of our lives as the parable lists the details of each servant and what that servant did with what the “Master” had given them: “Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.” (Matthew 25:16-18) A side note here is not to get distracted by the “amount” of “money” that was given to each because the important detail is that all “money” was not the servant’s “money” that they were “entitled” to because of their “service” but all that they “received” was “given” to them by the “Master” and was “his lord’s money”!!!  When we get distracted by MONEY WE MISTAKENLY THINK WE HAVE SOMEHOW EARNED OR ARE ENTITLED TO then we lose focus on “where” the “money” comes from in the first place and the Truth of God of what we have actually “done” to deserve it!!!  Jesus continues immediately in the Parable of the Talents and brings us to the Truth of God and the “point” of the parable with: “After a long time the lord [the Master] of those servants came and settled accounts with them.” (Matthew 25:19) This Truth of God then is one that we often miss when we get ourselves caught up in “trading” and trying to “make more money” and we miss the Truth of God that there is coming a “time” even though it may be “After a long time”, but the TRUTH is that the “Master” will RETURN and there will be an “accounting” of what we have done with the life that the “Master” has given us! Jesus has been Teaching that at the “end of the age” that “heaven and earth will pass away” and there will be a “judgement/accounting” of our actions and Jesus has clearly stated that “you are witnesses against yourselves” and that we cannot “escape [our] condemnation” which is a result of what we have done individually with the life the “Master” has given to us and then left us for “a long time”!?!?!? Each and every parable that Jesus Teaches us is full of Promise but with each “promise” that the “Master” gives us, we must accept the “personal responsibility” to the “Master” that comes with the “Promise” and we must understand that it is God that is making both the “Promise” and establishes the “Terms and Conditions” of “His Promise” and since God’s “Promise” is a “Gift” then we either accept God’s “Terms and Conditions” that go with the “Gift” or we must refuse God’s “Gift” because we can not accept the “Gift” if we will not accept His “Terms and Conditions”!!! Our digital world cannot be navigated without us first accepting the “Terms and Conditions” of whatever it is we have chosen to add to our “possessions” and there simply is “no negotiating Terms and Conditions”, therefore we check the box “I Accept” and go to the “Next” button on our way to getting “more” possessions and we make the mistake of thinking we have “earned” or are “entitled” to these temporary possessions — and yet we want to negotiate “Terms and Conditions” with God’s “Gift” of “Eternal Life” which is the greatest possession that we could possibly have! The only “Eternal Life” being offered by the world is the Gift of Salvation that God gives to those that accept His “Terms and Conditions” for the “GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE” and those “Terms and Conditions for Everlasting Life” are:

                                                TERMS AND CONDITIONS: EVERLASTING LIFE

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting  life.”(John 3:16) 

__________________________I ACCEPT

NOVEMBER 10 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 NOVEMBER 10  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

Jesus, Lord I am overwhelmed by Your Marvelous Grace and Gracious Mercy that You pour out daily on me and our family. We can see You working in our lives in ways that even exceed our prayers and hopes. Lord Jesus we know that we do not deserve  the blessings You have showered on us so my prayer is for us to be good stewards of all that You have given us both spiritually and physically and make us aware that good stewardship of kingdom treasures is to share them with others! So Lord keep us daily mindful that we are to be Your hands, feet, and heart for those with needs and when we encounter those needs that we will share with others as You have so generously shared with us! Lord Jesus, keep us safe in the Father’s Hands and strong and secure in Your Love!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus reveals the Truth of God thereby revealing God the Father through the parables and the Jesus Questions that Jesus asks! In this Jesus Question JQ#31 and these Parables of the Ten Virgins and the Talents that accompany JQ#31, we are to focus our attention on (1) the Master/Servant relationship (2) the Master’s expectations of servants that choose to be “His” servants (3) and also Jesus gives us a “How To List” of serving the Master! These are all very important things to know about “The MASTER and King of Heaven and Earth” and “how to” gain favor with the “King” and “how to” gain entrance to and inherit all the privileges of “The Kingdom of God”!!! Jesus gives us details of all these in a special way as He started the Parable of the Talents by setting up the scene for us as we see the “Master” giving “His goods” to “His own servants” and then the “Master” leaves “His own servants” in charge of the Master’s “Goods”. There is an implied “DIVINE TRUST” that the “Master” has imparted to “His own servants” expressed by the fact that the “Master” gave them the “talents…each according to [the servants] own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.” The picture in my mind is in Genesis: “The Lord God [the “Master”] planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there [the “Master” ] put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food….then the Lord God [the “Master” ] took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” (Genesis 2:8-15) When I read that God gives everything to each “according to their own ability” I learn that God has always given His Personal and Undivided Attention to His Personal Relationship with each INDIVIDUAL!!!  Since God did it for the first man Adam and now Jesus is Teaching that the “Master” gives each “according to their own ability” we must TRUST that God knows our individual needs and will provide for us accordingly! Jesus is also Teaching us that God will make all the necessary provisions for us but then God “Divinely Trusts” us to use them responsibly — God gave Adam the “entire” Garden of Eden that contained “everything” Adam needed to live an “abundant life” and had not Adam “disobeyed” God, Adam would have lived “eternally” for it was Adam’s “disobedience” to God that was “sin” and brought “death” into the world! God did not put Adam into the Garden with a “guard” placed in the garden to watch over him ——— No, God gave Adam the Garden and INDIVIDUAL FREEWILL and the responsibility to “tend [the entire garden God had provided for him]”! Then we read that after Adam and Eve had disobeyed God that “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden…” (Genesis 3:8) and since we can assume that God was not with them while they were partaking of the forbidden fruit that God had “returned [to the garden that He had given to Adam with the responsibility to watch it]” to check up on them which is the same scenario we read about in the Parable of the Talents as God gives “His own servants” talents “according to [their] own ability” and then leaves them with His Trust and the responsibility to use them wisely — we can also assume that if God gives us a “talent” or “talents” that He has already made sure they are the “talents” we need to live an abundant, successful and productive life and that like the Loving Father that GOD IS, the “Master” will RETURN to make sure we are OK, at which time we will naturally be judged by our own actions and what we have done with the talents and responsibilities God has graciously bestowed on each of us, “according to [our] ability” — that’s about as “Fair and Equitable” as it gets!!!

NOVEMBER 09 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 NOVEMBER 09  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, praise be Your Name, my God, my Redeemer. Lord Jesus, I thank You that on this journey You have placed messengers along my path and I pray that You will grant me understanding, wisdom, and good discernment of who the messengers are and what is the message that You have sent with Your messenger to help me on my journey to eternity. Lord today as I awoke, the thought hit me that I need to pray more intently to You, to spend more time in prayer just talking to You and then the thought of God the Father describing His Messiah as “the chief cornerstone” gave me the idea to study in depth all of God’s descriptions of the Messiah in the Old Testament and use them to draw a picture of You in the New Testament — Lord Jesus I pray for Your Wisdom and Light to guide me through Your Word that I may point others to You!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is Teaching about the “responsibility” that goes along with the “privilege” of “THE MASTER” choosing us to be “His own servants” in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and is a complimentary Lesson to being “a faithful and wise servant” Jesus had just Taught in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) and these two parables are book-end Lessons for The Jesus Question JQ#31-25 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45). Jesus begins the Parable of the Talents by introducing the concept of the “man [the master] traveling to a far country” leaving “his own servants” in charge of all “his goods”. Jesus begins the responsibility-Lesson of “THE MASTER” having “delivered his [the master’s] goods to [his own servants]” as Jesus starts the Parable of the Talents with: “And to one [servant] he [the master] gave five talents, to another two and to another one, to each according to [the servant’s] own ability; and immediately he [the master] went on a journey.” (Matthew 25:15) As is the modus operandi of the MASTER TEACHER Jesus introduces not just one but several very important concepts contained with His introductory statement so let us look at these concepts individually — (1) the master is giving “talents” to his servants which means that the master will make provision for “his own servants” before leaving the servant in charge (2) the master is wise enough to give each servant “according to his own ability” and (3) the master gives “his own servants” their provisions and then leaves them to live up to their responsibility! It is implied that THE MASTER is leaving but WILL RETURN for an ACCOUNTING (Final Judgment) of everyone but especially for “his own servants”  ACTIONS!!! I know that sometimes {most often} I do not “desire” the “responsibility” but I “want” to enjoy the “master’s” goods — it sure looks like there is a lot to learn in the Parable of the Talents but “we must first be willing to listen” to “THE MASTER”!!!!!

NOVEMBER 08 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 NOVEMBER 08  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, You Lord are Master of the Universe, all Praise, Glory, and Honor to Your Holy Name. Your Word O Lord, I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee. Lord Jesus, I lift up my life to you in a new way today, as my Faith builds day by day I cannot but be amazed and humbled by the working of the Holy Spirit in my life. I pray Lord that my growth spiritually will continue until one day my life, my thoughts, everything that I am will be nothing but the Holy Spirit. Lord, I Praise You for the opportunity to witness  Your Life with my life, grant it that the testimony of my life will be a Light for those struggling with the darkness. Forgive me where I fall short of Your Perfection and cover me with Your Righteousness.   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus again reveals God the Father and His expectations for those that accept His Invitation to live eternally with Him in “the kingdom of heaven” as Jesus first Teaches the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) and the Lesson of being a “faithful and wise servant” and then Jesus Teaches the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and we get a glimpse of The Master’s expectations and provisions for “his own servants”. Jesus introduces the Parable of the Talents, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” (Matthew 25:14) Let us now look at the common elements of all the Lessons and the Teaching Question Jesus is using in this section - (1) In His Teaching Question (Matthew 24:45) Jesus informs us that the “faithful and wise servant” is “made ruler over his household” by the “master” (2) In the Parable of the Ten Virgins the “wise virgins [bridesmaids/servants of the bride]” were watching for the “bridegroom [master]” and because they were “prepared/wise/and watchful for the master” they “went in with him” (3) In the Parable of the Talents “the man traveling to a far country/[Master]” gives “his goods” to “his own servants”. These common elements point us to the Truth of God that He is The Master and if we Serve Him faithfully we will be made “rulers” and gain access to His Kingdom and “all His Goods”. When I realize that if I “serve God” faithfully that I will have unrestricted access to everything in God’s Creation, there is a whole different perspective gained when I consider the advantages of “serving others” instead of trying to manipulate them! — Do you think that this is what Jesus is trying to teach us??? There is something difficult from a worldly perspective to understanding that the path to “honor” is through “humility” and if we want to be “sovereign” then we must first learn “servitude” !?!?!?!?  The other unusual thought that these Lessons generate in my mind is similar to my boyhood fantasy of getting three wishes when I rubbed the genie’s lamp, yet I struggled to make sure I made “Wise Wishes” and did not miss that great (but unreal) opportunity and now when I study God’s Word and look at the Promise of God that if I “serve Him” that I will get more than all the worldly wishes I could gain by rubbing that pretend lamp a million times — and with these Jesus Lessons I am reminded that I must “be wise and faithful in serving Him” and thereby I gain the “Favor of The Father” and GOD WILL “deliver His Goods” and ALL that HE HAS to me!?!?!?!? The more we learn of God the more we will “RESPECT GOD” and through our “RESPECT of THE MASTER” we are walking the path of “humility and faithful service” — truly a win-win-win scenario — and truly a “heavenly” destination!!!

NOVEMBER 07 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 NOVEMBER 07  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, King of kings, Lord of lords, from everlasting to everlasting, all praise and honor to the Lamb who is worthy! Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, both men and angels shall declare that You are the LORD! Jesus, I pray for the sweet peace that can only come by our yielding to Your Call through the Holy Spirit to “Come”  — “Come” to You, “Come” follow You, “Come” and enter Your Rest, O Lord I “Come” just as I am — O Precious Jesus, what a blessing to think that the Lord of lords would call a sinner such as I to “Come” to Repentance and then request that I “Come” to Your Precious Bleeding Side and be showered by Your Grace and Mercy! Grant it Lord that I yield completely and abandon my “self” to Your Call and that I will simply “COME”!!!         AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has transitioned from a Lesson on “preparedness” of “faithful and wise servants” which He Taught in the Parable of the Ten Virgins and now Jesus is Teaching of the responsibilities and duties of those that would be “[His] own servant” as Jesus Teaches the Parable of the Man Traveling to a Far Country: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” (Matthew 25:14) What is common to both parables is that they involve “servants” that are responsible to “The Master” — the Ten Virgins were to watch for the “Bridegroom” and to help prepare for the “Wedding Feast” and with the Parable of the Man Traveling to a Far Country the term “his own servants” makes it clear that the parable is based on the relationship between the “Master” and “his own servants”, therefore before we can learn from the Lesson we must search our own hearts and our desires and expectations and deal with whatever feelings that the thought of being someone’s “servant” draws to the surface of our emotions and self-realization!? When I began my “Journey to Find Truth” I did not expect that my path would lead me through “Servitude and Suffering” but fortunately I was not blinded by my personal aversion to being called a “servant” but I have since learned that being a “servant”  to a “Good Master” is far superior to being the “master of your [own] soul” and steering that soul into disaster on the sea of life! There is much to learn about “serving” well that applies more to being a “Good Master” ourselves than one might believe! The Holy Scriptures Teach us  that being the “MASTER” is a heavier burden than most weak souls like mine can bear! Personally I was initially repulsed by the thought of sitting around on a cloud all day throughout eternity and playing a harp and singing “Kumbaya My Lord” but as I learned more about “My Lord” and “My Master” I have gained a greater “Respect” for what “Great Sacrifice” that had to be made by THE FATHER AND THE SON to truly deserve the title “Lord and Master”!!! I have now arrived at the point in my Journey that I am thrilled at the prospect that “The Master” has called an unworthy soul such as I to “serve Him” and I take great comfort from knowing that being “The Master’s Servant” elevates me to a position greater than I expected were I to be king of the whole earth! There is much to learn about being “[The Master’s] own servant” and that is why Jesus Teaches these parables and has lived His own life to reveal “our Father in Heaven” who IS “THE MASTER” and “KING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH”!!! Just imagine being king of a wasteland of despair and then consider what lofty position and wonderful environment that comes with the territory and title of being “THE MASTERS own servant” !?!?!?!? Once your vision of “THE MASTER” is clear, you can better see the advantages of being “HIS servant” — it’s all a matter of perspective and the TRUTH OF GOD is that only you can see through your own eyes therefore your perspective is your own responsibility and only your own perspective can open your own eyes to the “honor” of “serving well” — once again Jesus gives us an option and then reveals God the Father by giving us a CHOICE of following “our will of self” or to concede to God the Father as Jesus did, “Nevertheless, not [my] will but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42)