The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have a Bible Edge
Luke 17:10
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.
There is one thing about the Bible that cannot be escaped. On one hand it builds up on the other hand it humbles. In a previous devotion our worth was built up. We are worth that which God paid for us, the innocent, precious, and perfect life of Jesus Christ. By the way, every person on earth is worth that much in that He died for all. It is just that some have not, and will not, benefit from His Sacrifice because they reject the Gospel.
Today’s verse gives us the other hand. We are unprofitable servants… This is that which Jesus said we should say. On one hand our worth is beyond measure, on the other we are all together unprofitable. Why? Why are we unprofitable? Because even though we may do all that is commanded us, that which we give to God can never measure up to that which He gave for us.
Look at it like this. Profit in the business world is that which is made on the sale of a product less all the cost to make and sell that product. If an easy chair sells for $500 and all the expenses to manufacture that chair equal $300, the profit on that one chair is $200, given that profit is the amount earned over the cost of goods of a product. If we are to be profitable to God, we must live a life that returns more to Him than the cost to save us, which is impossible. For what can we give to Him that is greater than that which He paid for our eternal life? Nothing.
Yep, when we have done all the things that we are commanded to do, we are only doing that which is our duty to do, we are unprofitable to God in that He will never receive more from our lives than the cost for our lives. On one hand we are worth more than all the riches of the world together. On the other hand, we are all together unprofitable to Him.
But however, the time, talents, and treasures He gives us, used properly can bring Him increase. Proof? The Parable of the Talents. In that parable the master said of the servant who had been given one talent that he was “wicked and slothful.” Why? Because that servant hid his talent in the ground and earned no increase to his master. The other two servants earned their master increase, or profit.
You see, while we can never repay the Lord all that He paid for us, the “talents” He gives us can bring Him increase if they are put to work for Him. But make no doubt, such an increase will never equal the cost of our salvation.
On one hand to Him we are priceless, on the other we are all together unprofitable.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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