Teachings of Jesus - Talents

I just love seeing a collaboration of gifts play out for a bigger picture. Church is an example of this, as people step up to share their various talents, from a smiling face at a door greeting, to rocking babies in the nursery, to singing in worship. It is truly something heavenly when people can use their piece to provide a means of testimony, no matter how big or small they feel their talent is. Working at camp was another example that I enjoyed seeing played out. I just loved seeing and getting to know everyone and what made them tick. I would never touch a skateboard, but we had guys (and gals) that could rock those things. And everyone of them carries a story with their talents and gifts. How they came to love this thing. How they came to use it for Jesus. How they grew from it. It's just awesome.

As Jesus shares in Matthew 25:14-30, a parable about how to give back through the resources He gives us, we can't help but cringe a little reading that story. The truth of the matter is, all of what we have has been given to us from God. He gives to us based on how well we use what we have to further His purpose, and that is Kingdom expansion. There are some things we need to take note of here, however:

Using our gifts and talents takes work on our part. If you notice in this reading, the servants who had a return on their talents were the ones who went out and did something to earn more. They doubled their starting amount and the master was pleased with how they had worked with it. The one servant, however did nothing. Yes, he kept it safe, as he justified in the passage, but he also brought nothing out of it to help his master.

The master also gave his servants a different amount of gold each. He knew what each one was capable of. Perhaps the first servant had proved before many times that he was reliable and would do what he was supposed to with his gold, thus the master trusted him with more. On the flip side, the last servant didn't get as much because he really didn't do anything with what was given to him, defeating the whole purpose of being handed a bag of gold in the first place. As we place this principal with what we have been given, would you say you are the first servant, doing what you can to use your gifts wisely to fulfill your master's purpose and mission? Or are you considered the 3rd servant, trusted with little and returning with little? This is a hard pill to swallow, but a necessary one if you truly want to grow in the mission.

Finally, we see that we work for Christ. Nothing else in this world matters, but furthering His Kingdom. That is our mission. We do that through our gifts, our talents, our resources, our love for people. He has given us what we need to accomplish this in the unique ways He created us. We can use our gifts for our own, selfish purposes, or we can do it for an eternity of good on behalf of something greater than ourselves. You will be held accountable and God will give you what you can be trusted with. How you use it is up to you.

Scripture to Read:
Matthew 25:14-30; Ephesians 2:10

Questions to Ponder:
What are some gifts, talents, resources that God has given to you?
How are you using these things for His good?
How does Ephesians 2:10 tie into this concept?