The Living Word: A Daily Devotional with Jeff & Dale from The Jenkins Institute

When we were in kindergarten, we learned that a dot does a lot when

we work with glue. When you consider the size of the mustard seed,

it is smaller than the periods found in this devotional.

James tells us in James 4:14 that life is a vapor. Some have said that

vapor lasts for three seconds. At the end of our time on earth, our

lives will seem smaller than a mustard seed. The question is, what

will you do with your three seconds? We can do a lot in our dot of

time on this Earth.

Have you ever planted a garden? I am tag-teaming a garden with

my neighbor and there is more work that goes into it than I could

have ever imagined: tilling the ground, planting in the soil,

watering, and so much more. It blows my mind to think that a plant

so big started as a little seed.

Have you ever thought on a Saturday night, “I am not going to

church tomorrow, no one will even notice if I am not there.”

A visitor arrived in a small French village. Evening was drawing

near and the people were rushing around town. The traveler

discovered that everyone carried a small, personal lamp. When he

asked one local resident, he was told, "We are going to the house of

worship." 

Have you ever looked up pictures of a mustard tree? If you have

not, get your phone and look up images of mustard trees. Notice

how much shaded area they can provide and imagine how many

birds’ nests they could house. Then consider how many people

could rest beneath th

The mustard seed is the smallest of any seed that can be planted, yet a

black mustard plant can grow up to six feet six inches tall.

We think small things we do for people do not matter, like sending a text

to someone who had surgery or wishing someone happy birthday on their

Facebook wall. I assure you, trivial things matter to people. What seems

like a small thing to us can make a significant difference.

During my freshman year of college, my great-uncle drove thirteen hours

to meet with me and encourage me to become a minister like him.

Thanks to a music scholarship, I was blessed to attend a university well-

equipped to instruct students in ministry, though I had not yet chosen to

pursue ministry myself. I enjoyed our meal together in Searcy, AR, but I

was afraid of leading, so I told him, “No, thank you.” Not long after, he

passed away. I never got to tell him, “Thank you.”

My mother was diagnosed with polio when she was five months old. She’s

never walked straight or ran. We could admit she wasn’t blessed

physically with what others had, yet she has doubled it with her spiritual

influence. We often forgot about her physical limitations because she

doubled what she had by her zeal and thirst for the Lord. It had nothing

to do with how “talented” she was, but what she did with what she was

The age we live in has more free and abundant access to Bibles,

devotionals, commentaries, podcasts, and other resources than

ever in the history of the world. The availability of it all places

tremendous responsibility on Christians. The five-talent man was

actually a ten-talent man. He decided to double and use what he

was given by the Master, stewarding it wisely. He received praise

and reward from the Master for his decision, and note that he did

this “at once” (Matthew 25:16).

Shout for joy, we live and breathe between our Master’s departure and

His return! The parable of the ten virgins was about preparation for the

bridegroom, and this parable challenges us not to sit on our hands while

we wait for the Master. Jesus left this earth in Acts 1:9-11, and before

leaving, He gave His disciples authority, gifts, and a commission. They

also were entrusted with talents, and though His absence would be hard

to fathom, He gave them great comfort and responsibility (John 14).

Much like us, they wouldn’t survive without instruction, love, gifts,

comfort, and power.

Today, we are reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 25. He reminds us

that God distributes gifts with expectations along with them. The parable

of the talents in Matthew 25 and the parable of the ten minas in Luke

19:11-27 supplement one another and emphasize that our Master has

expectations. Every servant received sums entrusted to them, and the

Master (or Nobleman) communicated expectations alongside those talents.