Increase Your Faith

"Increase our faith!" the disciples pleaded.

They had seen the miracles. They had heard the teachings. But for some reason, their spiritual pockets felt empty.

Perhaps Jesus held up a seed. "A mustard seed," He told them. Just a speck. A tiny fleck of pepper resting on the palm of your hand. If you have just this much, He promised, you can speak to a deep-rooted sycamore tree, and it will plunge itself into the sea.

Size isn't the issue. It's not about how much faith you have; it's about what you do with the faith you've been given.

But Jesus didn't stop there. He told a story about a servant who works all day out in the fields. When that servant finally comes inside, tired and dirty, does the master hand him a cold drink and say, "Oh, thank you so much! Sit down and let me serve you"?

No. The servant washes his hands, puts on an apron, and serves the master’s dinner. Why? Because that’s his job. And Jesus delivers the punchline:

"So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do."

Let's bring it right into our own homes.

Imagine, if you will, a mother. She has taken the children to school, run the errands, folded the laundry, and swept the kitchen floor. She has met the requirements for the moment. She has done her duty. Now, she is free.

There is a beautiful, profound truth about the human heart: When something is set free, it goes to what it loves.

What will she do with her freedom? She has plenty of options. She could sink into the cushions of the sofa and watch television. She could take a well-deserved nap. No one would blame her. She has, after all, punched her maternal timecard for the present.

But what if she goes deeper?

What if she opens the oven door, pulls out the racks, and begins to scrub away the baked-on grime? What if she opens the hallway closet and begins to organize the chaos?

She wasn't required to clean the oven to keep her title as "Mother."

Is it not true that when we consume only the required calories for the day, we merely maintain our weight? It is when we go beyond the required amount that we build.

So, friend, it is going the extra mile that causes growth.

Perhaps that is what Jesus was trying to tell His friends that afternoon. Faith doesn't grow when we treat God like a boss we are trying to appease with our bare minimum.

Faith grows in the moments after the duty is done.

Duty says, "I have done what was required." But love? Love says, "I am an unprofitable servant." It rolls up its sleeves and asks, "What more can I do?"

God is not looking for employees to simply meet the quota and then quit. He is looking for hearts that, once set free by His grace, choose to go deeper—hearts that take their mustard-seed faith and walk into the extra mile.