I don’t think the implications of the stewardship parables (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27) are widely appreciated. The servants aren’t judged according to how well they obeyed “orders.” They were never given any specific commands other than try to multiply what they had been entrusted with. And the unfaithful servant wasn’t judged for not doing enough, but for maligning his master to his face and refusing to do anything at all with what he was given.
What if a servant had tried and failed to increase the master’s wealth that was entrusted to him? There’s no hint from the parable that he would have been condemned for that failure.
Think some of the New Testament exhortations follow the same kind of command we find in the parables. Consider a married couple in a first-century congregation in Ephesus hearing Ephesians 5 read out loud in the congregation for the first time. What specifically have the husband and wife been commanded to do? Some things might be immediately obvious but much would be vague. They would have a general ideal of what God wants their marriage to look like. They would have to figure out how to flesh that out. They would realize that God gave them their marriage as a loan and he wants to see what they will do with it.
Ultimately, God has given us ourselves (or our selves). In a sense He is present with us but in another real sense he’s left us alone for a time to see what we will do with our selves.
What will we become?
I have written before that obedience is a volume know, not an on/off switch. This is one of the reasons: God has given us things to aim for and move toward. The “commandments” are derived from study and practice of what will best move us towards those goals.
That’s why Paul writes, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15–17
ESV).
Understand what will be the best stewardship of what God has given you.