by Marcia Sanders
“Mom! Mom! You won’t believe what happened at school today!” David shouted as he ran into the house.
“Well, I can’t even imagine!” Mom laughed. “I guess you’ll just have to tell me about it.”
“You know how I’ve been excited about trying out for the lead in the class play and how those tryouts were today?”
“Yes, I do,” Mom said. “You could hardly sit still at the table to eat breakfast this morning.”
“Well,” David replied breathlessly, “after school Mr. Fisher said I got the main part — the very one I’d been wanting!”
“David, that’s wonderful!” Mom exclaimed.
“Yes, but that’s not the best part.” David grinned.
“What could be better?”
“Mr. Fisher said he chose me partly because I did well at the audition but mostly because he knew I would be faithful to learn all my lines on time and show up for every practice. He said he knew from watching me help Mrs. Taylor last year that he could depend on me to help.”
Mom smiled. “Oh, David, I am so very proud of you. This reminds me of the parable in the Bible about the faithful servant. Do you remember the story in Matthew 25?”
“Do you mean the one where the servants were given talents to care for while their master was on a trip?” David asked. “The ones with ten and two talents doubled their master’s investment, but the servant with one buried it and didn’t even try to earn more money for his master. He said he was scared of his master. How does that remind you of me getting the part in the play?”
Mom nodded. “In verse 23 of that chapter, the master tells the servant with two talents, ‘You were faithful with a few things. I’ll put you in charge of many.’ Isn’t that like Mr. Fisher saying that he gave you the lead partly because of how faithful you had been to help Mrs. Taylor last year? You didn’t even know he was watching, which is another good lesson. Always do your best even if you don’t think anyone else is watching.”
“Yes, I can see how it is a bit like that,” David mused. “I didn’t think anyone else even knew that I was helping her after school each day with trash and desks. Now I find out that Mr. Fisher had been paying attention too. Just think . . . what if I had skipped days or not done good work? Then Mr. Fisher would have been concerned about giving me such a big part.” “As the parable says, you were faithful in a few things, so Mr. Fisher knew he could depend on you to be faithful in this big thing. He needs to have actors he can depend on to do their parts well and without his constant supervision. You’ve shown you can be that actor.”
