Matthew 25:17,18
“In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.”
Use what you’ve got. Some have much others have little. We are to use what we have for His glory. That’s the key. We aren’t to focus only on ourselves, but God and others.
When I think of self focus, I’m reminded of the rich man in Luke 12:16-21. ‘And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began thinking to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. And I will say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years to come; relax, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is demanded of you; and as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?’ Such is the one who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich in relation to God.”’
The rich man had a talent for business. God gave that to Him. However, in terms of investment in the kingdom of God, he buried it in the ground.
All of that talent had made him rich. What he didn’t factor in is that his talent was a gift from God. He saw it as his. He also didn’t factor in the good weather and abundant rain which was another gift from God. The bible says, “Without Him we can do nothing”, (John 15:5).
What the rich man should have done was pray about the excess harvest. Allow the poor to do some harvesting. See the harvest as an opportunity to deny one’s self and give it to others. That would have solved his issue with storage.
This would have put him in a better position with God. It wouldn’t have saved him, but it may have been the fruit of a saved individual.
God has given us all talents. Our primary responsibility is to earn for ourselves and our families. While we are doing that we are in dependance on God. He will bring all sorts of opportunities to give to others. The rich man will be seen as a benevolent fellow. The average one will help his neighbors.
Some talents have nothing to do with money. They may be people gifts. They may be towards repair and craftsmanship. Whatever the case, don’t hoard it. Be generous with what we have.
The life that is submitted to God will have generosity interwoven in it. We may have been a selfish person, but God works that out of us. He will teach us to share. We are taking our talents and using them for the kingdom. Thank You, Lord.
