When the justified person looks into his own carnal heart, he sees a heart of stone, and this makes him merciful. But when he looks into Christ s heart of flesh implanted by faith, he will never wish to abuse that heart by harming others. It is a terrible shame when clergy fail to give their utmost for God s highest, when they sit in their offices or work their gardens and fail to help their people. The third characteristic of the Christian steward is an awareness of eschatological accountability . The essence of Satan s deception, indeed what caused him to fall himself, is putting God out of mind.
Some people just live today in the present, without ever thinking of eternity.
Shame is one of the strongest motivators, and Paul, like Jesus, foresees the end-time moment when a person who has deceived himself and others throughout his life is finally exposed before God. At that time, God will not be a God of leniency but a God of accountability. People may mock him by forgetting him in this world, but they cannot avoid him in the world to come. Westerners often crowd God out of their mind by the accumulation of things and the diversion of amusements. The Parable of the Talents is directed to just such an attitude.