Matthew 25:14-30 English
Standard Version (ESV)The Parable of the Talents14 “For it
will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a]and entrusted to them his
property. 15 To one he gave five talents,[b] to another two, to
another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He
who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he
made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents
made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent
went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.19 Now after
a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with
them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came
forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five
talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master
said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.[c] You have been
faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy
of your master.’22 And he also who had the two talents came
forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made
two talents more.’23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and
faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over
much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had
received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a
hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered
no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in
the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’26 But his master
answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap
where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then
you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should
have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the
talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For
to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from
the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the
worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
What if there was a fourth servant...Bob lets say, who went and took his talent to the casino and blew it all. What if he didn't just hold on to the talent he was given but tried to invest it to great and utter failure? What would the master have said then? We look at the master’s response to this third nameless servant and wonder, why in the world is he so hard on the poor guy? At least he didn't lose it, squander it or steal it. Right? Can we squander the gifts God has given us? Can we squander them so thoroughly that we lose them forever?
Speculation
has the danger of taking us to unhelpful places and so I want to be careful
about the questions I give permission to bounce around my head. For me,
the key is to ask the question, ponder it, see if God answers and then let it
go. I have gotten in the habit of
writing my questions down as a physical act of getting them out of my brain and
acknowledging that God will answer in His time (even if that answer is, “it’s
not for you to know”).
If
you haven’t figured it out by now, I love asking questions. It’s part of who God created me to be! For me, asking the questions helps draw me
deeper into figuring out who God is and who I am in Him. It is how God sheds
light on areas He is working on and it helps me acknowledge holes in my
spiritual defenses that the enemy can exploit.
The trick to being a question asker is to have a firm foundation in the
truth. There is no question or
speculation that your brain or the enemy can whisper that will shake you if you
are rooted deeply in Christ. I ask
questions so I won’t be surprised when questions are asked of me, so my faith
won’t be shaken by some clever twist of words thrown at me by someone more
intelligent.
Eph 4:14So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
So
here are the questions I’m asking today.
Can we abuse the "talents" God has given us? Can we
misuse His gifting? Are we guaranteed success (ie, a return) if we invest
the talents God has given us?
The parable of the talents is mostly used to apply to money, and rightly so because that's what a "talent" is in this context of scripture. But God has been focusing my eyes on this story because it means more than money. It is about investment. Investment is defined as an act of devoting time, effort or energy to a particular undertaking with the expectation of a worthwhile result. Learning, watching, practicing and probing. If we are going to invest well it requires we gain experience and knowledge and then step out in faith. Modern experience tells us that it is indeed possible to invest poorly but with enough attention, research, practice and knowledge you are more likely to see an increase over time. In light of that, I look back on my questions and speculations and can feel the smile of God as I begin to piece together a deeper picture of what this parable means.
I've
been using this knowledge to inspire me to write. If you're reading this
blog right now you will see the evidence of that prompting ;) I believe
God has given me a glimpse into what He is calling me to in the future. I
have been working to stay still and be all present with where God has me right
now, because I haven't been given the green light to proceed yet, but that
doesn't mean I can't start flexing the muscles I think God is going to call me
to use. This is the heart of investment.
How
about you? Do you have questions when
you read scripture? Are there areas of
your life God is calling you to invest towards the future He has planned?
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