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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.
But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’”
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’”
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’”
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Matthew 25:14-30
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
God has gifted everyone.
It’s true.
You, I, and everyone else have been granted special abilities that can be used to carry out His purposes, bringing Him glory while making a difference and blessing others in the process.
Maybe you have the gift of music, playing an instrument or singing songs that lift the spirits of those who hear you perform.
Or maybe you can write words that inspire, either in the form of lyrics or poems, articles or books or even devotions like the one you are reading right now.
Possibly you have been given the gift of leadership, guiding and directing those who are under your cognizance to achieve success and greatness.
Perhaps teaching is your gift and you use it to educate youth or adults in any number of subjects.
You might have been given the gift to treat illnesses or repair injuries, restoring people to good health and even keeping them alive in some circumstances.
Beyond raw talent, you could even just be a person who has been given a heart that cares for others, so much so that you are constantly looking for chances to care for those who are disenfranchised and in need.
And of course, there are those who the Lord has granted talents to do His work in ministry, preaching and instructing His flock so that they might grow into a closer relationship with Him. Pastors, bible teachers, and missionaries are just a few people you may find with these spiritual gifts.
I could go on and on and on but I think you get the point. Again, everyone has been given some gift from God to use as He sees fit to further His kingdom on earth. The question is this:
Are you wasting your talents?
In other words, are you using the gifts that the Lord has granted you or are you letting them just go unused?
I’m convinced that there are a lot of people standing on the sidelines when it comes to using the talents God has granted. They sit on the bench of life and fail to put their gifts in play, and in doing so, they let their Lord down by squandering special abilities He has given. In fact, many haven’t even assessed themselves to discover what gifts they do have, the gifts the Lord has bestowed on them.
Well, as we turn to our scripture passage for today, we find Jesus addressing this matter through a parable and driving the point home that there are consequences for ignoring or misusing talents. Look again at His words here:
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.
So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more.
But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’”
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’”
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’”
“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew 25:14-30
Here we find there are four main players in the parable, which you’ll remember is a fictional story that carries with it a spiritual truth and message regarding how the Lord expects His people to live. The four include a master and three servants.
We read where the master was going on a journey and we don’t know his destination but it really doesn’t matter. The key here is that he was going to be gone for some time and so he called three of his servants and entrusted them with a portion of his wealth. The master was a wise man and he definitely knew the abilities his servants possessed, so much so that he knew that they would handle his money differently.
One servant was obviously more adept in dealing with funds and he was given the largest amount, five bags of gold. The other two servants were not as skilled but the master still entrusted them with some of his riches, one getting two bags and the other one. And with the money distributed, the master went away on his journey.
As we read on in the parable, it’s obvious what the master expected from his servants. For they were given a certain number of bags of gold and were to try and increase the riches they were entrusted with, giving the master a return on his investment upon his return. Immediately, the servants took action.
The servant given the largest number of gold-filled bags put the money to work and doubled the master’s wealth that was entrusted to him. He would be able to give the master ten bags when he came back.
The second servant also did very well, turning his two bags of gold into four.
And then there was servant number three. He didn’t put the master’s money to work at all. In fact, he didn’t do any work. He just buried the bag that had been given to him and then did nothing else, lounging around until his master got home.
Well, the master did finally get back after being gone for a long time and he immediately got busy settling the accounts with each of his three servants.
The first and second servants each reported the fruits of their financial labors, proudly reporting the doubling of what they had been given to their master. It’s obvious the Master was very pleased with their efforts for he said this to each man:
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
Note the spiritual truth contained in this part of the parable.
When the Lord grants you the gift of talent or talents, represented here by the bags of gold, He expects you to get to work using those talents to provide Him a return on His investment. When we do this, He sees us as “good and faithful” servants, industrious ones who can be entrusted with even more. Indeed, I can speak from experience that the Lord will continue to bless you with new gifts when you show Him you are using the ones He has already granted to carry out His will and way.
And this brings us to the third servant, the one who just buried his bag of gold in the ground.
Now we already know that the master recognized that this servant wasn’t as accomplished as the other two when it came to successfully investing money. That’s why this servant only received one bag of gold. But the master DID expect that the servant would do SOMETHING with the money entrusted to him.
What a disappointment it must have been when this servant told the master his bag of gold had sat buried in the ground the entire time he was away. The master must have bristled as the third servant delivered excuses instead of results to try and justify the lack of effort he put forth. His response to the indolent servant was laced with condemnation:
“You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Ouch!
It was a scathing summary of the useless actions of the third servant who now would have a reputation of being wicked and lazy. This is how the master now viewed him and a wicked, lazy servant is not of use at all and this is why the master ordered the servant to be banished, his one bag of gold taken away and given to the first servant who showed he could not only be trusted with what he had but could be trusted with more.
Going back to the discussion about what Jesus is trying to get across here, we find that there will be judgment imposed on anyone who wastes the talent that the Lord, the Master, has given to them. In fact, we learn here that God could actually take a gift away from someone who lazily squanders His gifted abilities and that gift, once removed, could be given to someone who has already proven themselves to be faithful and trustworthy.
So this brings us back to the original question, the one found in this devotion’s title.
Are you wasting your talents, specifically the talents that God, your Master, has provided?
Know that our Lord is always taking into account how we’re living and with that, how we are using the gifts He has given to honor Him and bring Him glory.
Through His parable, Jesus is asking us all some other questions, ones we better take seriously.
What is the return on the investment God has made in you through the gifts he has given?
If He (God) challenged you right now to give an account to Him, where would you stand? Would your report be positive like the first two servants, a report that would be met with the Lord’s favor and praise?
Or would your report be more like the lazy, wicked servant, a report that will only bring the Lord’s anger and punishment?
God has given us all gifts and He expects we put them to work and produce positive results, results the Lord expects.
I pray none of us will disappoint Him.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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