Proclamation:
“That
servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what
his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one
who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few
blows. From
everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who
has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:47-48
(NIV)
Explanation:
With
these Holy Spirit inspired words Luke, the physician and traveling companion of
the apostle Paul, offered words of warning and encouragement to the people of
God. He told them that those who do
wrong but do not know any better will still be punished for doing wrong.
However, those who do wrong intentionally will be punished more severely than
the uninformed wrong doer. He also said
that more will be required from those who are given a lot.
Application:
More
will be expected from those who are given more, entrusted with more, who know
more, and who are blessed more than others. When we know better, we should do better.
When we
have more, we will be expected to give more.
The more that we are blessed, the more we should share our blessings
with others. Sin is sin, and wrong is
wrong. The punishment that we will
receive for wrong doing will depend upon our knowledge of right and wrong. When we know that what we are doing is wrong,
and we continue to do it, our chastisement will be greater because of our
willful commission of sin. When we know
the right thing to do or say and we choose not to, our punishment will be more
severe than for someone who did not know.
When we are blessed and do not share our blessings with others but keep
them to ourselves, God is not pleased. We
need to pray for God's help so that we can avoid the sins committed consciously,
knowingly, and intentionally. When we
have been blessed with much and know better, we will be held to a much higher
standard and more will be expected from us.
With knowledge comes greater responsibility.
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