What should we do with our talents?
In Matthew 25:14-30 we see Jesus telling His disciples that Heaven is like this parable. A ruler goes to a new kingdom but before he leaves he gives to his servants talents to use until he returns, just to see what they will do with them. The Lord gives to us all something in the way of talents, and we are responsible to Him for what we use them for, and if we use them for increase before the Lord returns. In this same way the parable of the talents refers to our circumstances today. Jesus is guaranteeing to return someday and when He does we will be responsible to Him for what we have done with the 'talents' Jesus has given to us.
It is also interesting that 'Talents' were a form of currency in those days as well as meaning 'natural abilities' in todays english. First we are told that this is a parable, or story, of the Kingdom of Heaven and this is what we should expect. We should be ready to account for the talents God has given us. The things we do for Jesus to help expand His Kingdom while in this world will be rewarded when we get to the next world. Only what we have done for Christ will last, everything else will pass away. The ruler will gave to them what was His for them to care for and increase.
We find then that unto the first servant the ruler gave five talents, the next servant two, and the third servant one. Now the third servant may have felt to be not as well trusted as the others since he only received one talent. But, as it turns out, the ruler may have withheld more for good reason. The ruler gave to them as he would, not as they could.
The servant who received five talents invested them and increased them by five more. Through this we see that we should attempt to at least double the talents given to us. If we don't at least try to use the talents given us, then we will be responsible to the Lord for not using the talents He left us. Now the Bible says that Jesus came not to do away with the law, but that through Him the law might be explained.
The second servant was given two talents and also doubled them, turning them into four talents. The ruler praised both servants and put them in charge of much in His new Kingdom since they did so well with the little they had here.
The third servant was not as productive as the other two, and weither due to his fear of the ruler, or his lazyness, he just buried the talent and never used it or increased it. If you or I were to go to a bank and open a savings account, even at todays low interest rates, we would expect after say ten years to get some increase in the money we put in there. But if after ten years the bank manager took us out back and dug up the money we had given him, and said he kept it safe there so we would never risk it being lost or misused, we would be mad with him at least.
The Bible says starting in verse 19-30 that the ruler, representative of Jesus, came back and expected an accounting of the servants. After a LONG time most likely when the servants had given up hope that the ruler would ever return, the ruler finally returned. So, to there surprise, the ruler returned and wanted His talents accounted for. The ruler started with the servant that had been given five talents, then went on to the one given two talents.
In Matthew 25:14-30 we see Jesus telling His disciples that Heaven is like this parable. A ruler goes to a new kingdom but before he leaves he gives to his servants talents to use until he returns, just to see what they will do with them. The Lord gives to us all something in the way of talents, and we are responsible to Him for what we use them for, and if we use them for increase before the Lord returns. In this same way the parable of the talents refers to our circumstances today. Jesus is guaranteeing to return someday and when He does we will be responsible to Him for what we have done with the 'talents' Jesus has given to us.
It is also interesting that 'Talents' were a form of currency in those days as well as meaning 'natural abilities' in todays english. First we are told that this is a parable, or story, of the Kingdom of Heaven and this is what we should expect. We should be ready to account for the talents God has given us. The things we do for Jesus to help expand His Kingdom while in this world will be rewarded when we get to the next world. Only what we have done for Christ will last, everything else will pass away. The ruler will gave to them what was His for them to care for and increase.
We find then that unto the first servant the ruler gave five talents, the next servant two, and the third servant one. Now the third servant may have felt to be not as well trusted as the others since he only received one talent. But, as it turns out, the ruler may have withheld more for good reason. The ruler gave to them as he would, not as they could.
The servant who received five talents invested them and increased them by five more. Through this we see that we should attempt to at least double the talents given to us. If we don't at least try to use the talents given us, then we will be responsible to the Lord for not using the talents He left us. Now the Bible says that Jesus came not to do away with the law, but that through Him the law might be explained.
The second servant was given two talents and also doubled them, turning them into four talents. The ruler praised both servants and put them in charge of much in His new Kingdom since they did so well with the little they had here.
The third servant was not as productive as the other two, and weither due to his fear of the ruler, or his lazyness, he just buried the talent and never used it or increased it. If you or I were to go to a bank and open a savings account, even at todays low interest rates, we would expect after say ten years to get some increase in the money we put in there. But if after ten years the bank manager took us out back and dug up the money we had given him, and said he kept it safe there so we would never risk it being lost or misused, we would be mad with him at least.
The Bible says starting in verse 19-30 that the ruler, representative of Jesus, came back and expected an accounting of the servants. After a LONG time most likely when the servants had given up hope that the ruler would ever return, the ruler finally returned. So, to there surprise, the ruler returned and wanted His talents accounted for. The ruler started with the servant that had been given five talents, then went on to the one given two talents.
In both cases the ruler praised the servants and put them in control of many groups in His new Kingdom. The ruler promises that the Joy of the Lord is waiting for both servants, meaning the rest in the Joy of Heaven, waits for them. Then the ruler gets to the third servant and he procedes to make excuses for doing nothing with the talet he was given. He used 42 words to make excuses while the others only used 15 or 16 to tell what they had done. Those who feel they need to make excuses for their actions will almost always use more effort to explain away their actions than those who agree to do right from the beginning. The third servant was told by the ruler that he was a lazy and slovenly servant and even the little that he had would be taken away and given to the productive servants. We need to get more productive in God's service, so when Jesus returns we will be able to say to him we have done much with the talents He left with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment