Habits of Highly Effective Christ-Followers
Key Questions – Part II

Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:14-30 NLT

Key Verse: Matthew 25: 21a NLT
“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant…’”

Continuing our study from yesterday, we see in Jesus’s “Parable of the Talents” that the third servant came before his master to give a report. Here is what he had to say:

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’” (Matthew 25:24-25 NLT)

This illustrates a person who does little to help others and make our world a little better. Notice that he immediately blames his master for being a harsh man.

How many people do you know that blame someone else when their lives are amounting to little?

Jesus is making the point that God expects us, especially as Christ-followers, to live life with purpose and help our world be kinder and more generous. Just as the master in Jesus’s parable gave money to his servants, God gives gifts to every Christ-follower to bless others. Far too many Christ-followers do little or nothing with their gifts.

So, let’s return to the original question: What does it look like to be a highly effective Christ-follower?

One aspect is that they live their lives with God’s purposes guiding them, as we studied in yesterday’s devotional.

A second aspect of what it looks like to be a highly effective Christ-follower is that they find and use the gifts that God has given them.

Find a third aspect in John 15:4-5 NLT:

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

These two verses speak to the necessary personal intimacy to keep in our relationship with Jesus Christ. To remain in Him, we must seek Him daily with prayer and reading Scripture. Prayer is us speaking to God and Scripture is God speaking to us. This daily communication is a crucial ingredient of a highly effective Christ-follower.

The fruit that highly effective Christ-followers produce is a result of daily remaining in Jesus. May God help us all to build our schedules around our time with Jesus and His Word.

Father, my heart desires a close and intimate relationship with You, through Your son Jesus. Grant me wisdom and strength to remain in You. In Jesus’s name, amen.