The Master Is Returning: What Will We Give Back to Him?

Salvation Is a Gift—but the Gift Gives Us a Purpose

Many Christians understand that Jesus died to save us from our sins. We know that salvation is the gift of God, received by grace through faith and not earned by good works.

Yet there is another part of the Gospel message that is not taught nearly as often:

Jesus did not save us merely from something; He also saved us for something.

God’s Word says:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
—Ephesians 2:10

We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works. Once we belong to Jesus, our lives are no longer entirely our own. We become servants of the King, stewards of His possessions, and representatives of His Kingdom.

The Christian life is not intended to be spent waiting passively for Heaven. It is an opportunity to serve our Savior, bear spiritual fruit, invest in His Kingdom, and prepare for the day when we will stand before Him.

The Common Thread Through the Teachings of Jesus

The parables of Jesus address many different subjects, but a common message runs through them:

The Master has entrusted something to His servants. He expects them to remain faithful, and one day He will return and ask them to give an account.

This thread appears repeatedly:

• The Sower plants the Word and looks for fruit.
• The Vine and the Branches teach that fruit comes through abiding in Christ.
• The Talents show servants managing what belongs to their master.
• The teaching about treasure in Heaven reveals where we should make our eternal investments.
• The watchful servants are commanded to remain ready for their master’s return.
• The Judgment Seat of Christ reveals that every believer’s work will be examined.
• The promised crowns and rewards demonstrate that faithfulness in this life carries eternal significance.

These are not disconnected teachings. They form one unified Kingdom message:

RECEIVE → ABIDE → BEAR FRUIT → STEWARD → INVEST → GIVE ACCOUNT → RECEIVE REWARD → GLORIFY CHRIST

Everything begins with what we have received from Jesus. Everything worthwhile is accomplished by abiding in Jesus. And everything ultimately returns to the glory of Jesus.

The Meaning of the Parable of the Talents

In Matthew 25:14–30, Jesus described a man traveling to a far country. Before leaving, the master entrusted his possessions to three servants.

One servant received five talents, another received two, and the third received one. Each received according to his ability.

The first two servants put the master’s possessions to work and produced a return. The third servant became afraid, buried his talent, and returned to the master only what he had originally received.

The talents were large sums of money, but the spiritual principle applies to everything God has placed in our care:

• Our time
• Our abilities
• Our spiritual gifts
• Our possessions
• Our financial resources
• Our influence
• Our relationships
• Our opportunities
• Our knowledge of the Gospel
• Our personal testimony
• The truth God has taught us

The servants did not own the talents. They were managing something that belonged to the master.

In the same way, we do not truly own anything. Our lives, abilities, opportunities, and resources have been entrusted to us for a limited period of time. We are stewards, and God is the Owner.

God Does Not Give Everyone the Same Assignment

One of the most encouraging truths in the Parable of the Talents is that the master did not give every servant the same amount.

God does not expect us to become someone else. He does not compare our assignment with another person’s assignment. He looks for faithfulness according to what He placed in our hands.

The servant with two talents received the same words of approval as the servant with five:

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
—Matthew 25:21, 23

The amount entrusted was different, but the faithfulness was the same.

Jesus will not ask us why we did not have someone else’s ministry, abilities, influence, or opportunities. He will ask what we did with what He entrusted to us.

The great tragedy of the third servant was not that he had received less. It was that he did nothing with what he received. Fear distorted his understanding of the master, and the talent entrusted to him remained buried and unproductive.

This raises an important question for each of us:

What has the Master placed in my hands, and what am I doing with it for His Kingdom?

What Does It Mean to Build Treasure in Heaven?

Jesus taught:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
—Matthew 6:19–20

Building treasure in Heaven does not mean that we are purchasing salvation. Eternal life cannot be bought through generosity, religious activity, or human effort. Jesus purchased our redemption with His own blood.

Heavenly treasure is produced when we use temporary earthly resources for eternal Kingdom purposes.

We build treasure in Heaven when we:

• Serve people because we love Jesus.
• Give without seeking recognition.
• Help those who cannot repay us.
• Share the Gospel with someone who is lost.
• Teach God’s truth faithfully.
• Forgive when forgiveness is costly.
• Endure suffering without abandoning our faith.
• Use our abilities to bless others.
• Pray for people who may never know we prayed.
• Invest our time, money, and influence in what matters eternally.
• Obey God when no one else is watching.

Jesus even promised that something as small as giving a cup of cold water in His name would not lose its reward.

Nothing done faithfully for Christ is insignificant.

Treasure Is Not Merely for Ourselves

Jesus did say, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Therefore, we should not deny that He promises personal reward. Christ wants His people to desire eternal treasure rather than temporary earthly gain.

But the highest purpose of heavenly treasure is not personal pride.

Jesus gave everything to save us. We now have the privilege of offering our redeemed lives back to Him.

Whatever reward we receive will exist because He saved us, equipped us, sustained us, and produced fruit through us. Revelation 4:10 pictures the elders casting their crowns before the throne. Their rewards become an offering of worship to the One who alone is worthy.

The faithful believer will not stand before Christ and boast:

“Look at everything I accomplished.”

Instead, our hearts will confess:

“Lord, everything worthwhile came from You. This is what Your grace produced through the life You entrusted to me.”

We build treasure in Heaven because we want to have something of eternal value to place before the Savior who gave everything for us.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

The Bible teaches that believers will appear before the Judgment Seat—or Bema Seat—of Christ:

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
—2 Corinthians 5:10

The Bema Seat is not a judgment to determine whether a believer is saved. Jesus bore the condemnation for our sins upon the cross:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
—Romans 8:1

The Bema is the Master’s evaluation of His servants. Christ will examine how we used what He entrusted to us.

Paul described this evaluation in 1 Corinthians 3:11–15. Each believer’s work will be tested as though by fire. Some works will endure like gold, silver, and precious stones. Other works will disappear like wood, hay, and straw.

Christ will evaluate more than outward activity. He will also examine our motives.

Did we serve because we loved Him, or because we wanted recognition? Did we obey Him, or simply follow our own ambitions? Did we use His gifts for His glory, or bury them beneath fear, comfort, distraction, and self-interest?

A believer may be genuinely saved and yet suffer the loss of potential reward. That is why the way we live after salvation matters so deeply.

What Does It Mean to Be Counted Worthy?

Jesus instructed His followers to watch and pray that they might be “counted worthy” to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).

This must be understood carefully.

We cannot make ourselves worthy of salvation through human effort. Only the righteousness of Jesus makes sinners acceptable before God. We are saved because of His worthiness, not ours.

However, Scripture also commands believers to “walk worthy” of their calling. This refers to living in a manner consistent with the grace we have received.

We are not working to become saved. We are working because we belong to the Savior.

We do not obey Jesus to earn His love. We obey because His love has captured our hearts.

We do not pursue faithfulness to purchase a place in Heaven. We pursue faithfulness because Heaven is our home and Jesus is our King.

The Crowns of the Faithful

The New Testament describes several crowns associated with faithful Christian living:

• The imperishable crown for spiritual discipline and faithfulness—1 Corinthians 9:25
• The crown of rejoicing, associated with people reached and encouraged for Christ—1 Thessalonians 2:19
• The crown of righteousness for those who love Christ’s appearing—2 Timothy 4:8
• The crown of life for faithfully enduring trials and persecution—James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10
• The crown of glory for faithfully shepherding God’s people—1 Peter 5:4

These crowns are not trophies for human pride. They represent Christ’s recognition of faithfulness.

The greatest reward will not be the crown itself. It will be the approval of the Master:

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Can you imagine hearing those words from Jesus?

The One who endured the cross for us will look upon the fruit His grace produced through us and recognize our faithfulness. No earthly accomplishment or human applause could ever compare with that moment.

The Enemy’s Strategy of Distraction

The enemy may not always try to make believers openly reject Christ. Sometimes his strategy is simply to keep us distracted from our Kingdom responsibilities.

If he can keep us preoccupied, comfortable, fearful, offended, entertained, discouraged, or consumed by temporary concerns, he can keep us from investing in eternity.

Jesus repeatedly warned about:

• The cares of this world choking the Word
• Earthly treasure capturing the heart
• Spiritual sleepiness
• Lamps being allowed to go out
• Talents being buried
• Love growing cold
• Hearts becoming weighed down by the concerns of life
• Servants forgetting that their master will return

A person can spend an entire lifetime managing earthly responsibilities while neglecting a heavenly assignment.

The enemy wants us to forget that we are living between two great events: the Master’s departure and the Master’s return.

The Kingdom Is Our Present Calling

The Kingdom of Heaven is not merely the place believers enter after death. It is also the present rule of Christ under which His people are called to live.

Jesus is our Savior, but He is also our Lord and King.

We have been entrusted with Kingdom resources during His apparent absence. We are called to work, serve, invest, love, forgive, witness, endure, and bear fruit until He returns.

When He comes, every servant will give an account.

Whatever survives His examination will become eternal treasure—a lasting testimony to what the grace of Jesus accomplished through a surrendered life.

What Will We Give Back to Him?

This is the question that brings all these teachings together:

What will we give back to the One who gave everything for us?

Perhaps we have buried something He intended us to use. Perhaps temporary concerns have crowded out an eternal assignment. Perhaps fear has kept us from serving, giving, speaking, or obeying.

If so, today is not a day for condemnation. It is an opportunity to surrender ourselves again to Jesus.

As long as we are living, our stewardship is not finished. There is still time to invest what He has given us. There is still time to bear fruit. There is still time to build treasure in Heaven. There is still time to live for the words we long to hear:

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

The entire Christian journey can be expressed in these words:

Saved by Christ.
Abiding in Christ.
Working through Christ.
Evaluated by Christ.
Rewarded by Christ.
Returning all glory to Christ.

The Master is returning.

May He find us faithfully using everything He has placed in our hands—and may everything we bring before Him become an offering of worship to the One who gave everything to save us.