The Reward of Faithfulness
Jeff Strite
Matthew 25:14-30
OPEN: We use numbers all the time without knowing their significance or their meaning.
For example: How many feet in a mile (5280 feet). Do you know why? The term mile came from the Latin word "mille" - meaning 1000. To the Romans it was the distance a soldier could cover in 1000 paces - about 5000 feet. But British farmers measured their fields in "furlongs", which were 660 feet long and they didn't want to change. So when the mile was introduced to England, it was changed to 5280 feet - or exactly 8 furlongs.
OR does anybody know the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate in baseball (60 feet, 6 inches) Do you know why? The pitching distance was 50 feet until 1893 - when some baseball executives changed it to 60 feet. But the surveyor they hired to remap their infield misread their instruction - he thought 60 feet 0 inches was 60 feet 6 inches. The extra 6 inches have been there ever since.
Now you might ask, "What difference does it make?"
Not much.
But it does point out that we often use numbers without knowing why they are there.
Andy Rooney (of 60 minutes fame) commented on the sometimes illogical nature of measurements we use: He says "Clothes sizes are the worst ones of all. I wear a size 8 ½ shoe but wear a size 11 sock. Does this make sense?
Why do I wear a size 7 ½ hat but a size 16 ½ collar? Doesn't that sound as though I could put my shirt on over my hat with the collar buttoned?
Why is the average suit size for a man a 40 and the average dress size for a woman a 12? We're not that much bigger."
APPLY: We use numbers all the time without knowing their significance or meaning. It's even true when we study Scripture. Take the "Parable of the Talents" for example. If you're like me you've probably always thought that a talent might be worth a few hundred dollars. But I just read something last week that really impressed me
ILLUS: In Matthew 20 Jesus te ...
Jeff Strite
Matthew 25:14-30
OPEN: We use numbers all the time without knowing their significance or their meaning.
For example: How many feet in a mile (5280 feet). Do you know why? The term mile came from the Latin word "mille" - meaning 1000. To the Romans it was the distance a soldier could cover in 1000 paces - about 5000 feet. But British farmers measured their fields in "furlongs", which were 660 feet long and they didn't want to change. So when the mile was introduced to England, it was changed to 5280 feet - or exactly 8 furlongs.
OR does anybody know the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate in baseball (60 feet, 6 inches) Do you know why? The pitching distance was 50 feet until 1893 - when some baseball executives changed it to 60 feet. But the surveyor they hired to remap their infield misread their instruction - he thought 60 feet 0 inches was 60 feet 6 inches. The extra 6 inches have been there ever since.
Now you might ask, "What difference does it make?"
Not much.
But it does point out that we often use numbers without knowing why they are there.
Andy Rooney (of 60 minutes fame) commented on the sometimes illogical nature of measurements we use: He says "Clothes sizes are the worst ones of all. I wear a size 8 ½ shoe but wear a size 11 sock. Does this make sense?
Why do I wear a size 7 ½ hat but a size 16 ½ collar? Doesn't that sound as though I could put my shirt on over my hat with the collar buttoned?
Why is the average suit size for a man a 40 and the average dress size for a woman a 12? We're not that much bigger."
APPLY: We use numbers all the time without knowing their significance or meaning. It's even true when we study Scripture. Take the "Parable of the Talents" for example. If you're like me you've probably always thought that a talent might be worth a few hundred dollars. But I just read something last week that really impressed me
ILLUS: In Matthew 20 Jesus te ...
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