Matthew 25:14-30 - by Don Neuendorf
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money...
"God didn't give me much, just the sunshine in the morning..." That's how an old campfire song begins. Yes, I know, it's terribly saccharine. But it does make a sarcastic point (and I always love sarcasm). When we look in our bag to see how many talents God has given to us, aren't we always dissapointed?
"Oh, I don't have many skills, really." "Oh, I'm not rich or anything." When we were children our trick-or-treat bags seemed to fill too slowly and empty too soon, although we deserved none of it. Now as adults we're little better...
True, I have a roof over my head and a car to drive, but you know the kitchen is SO out of date. I don't have granite counters like some people have. And my car needs several minor repairs! Surely God can't be expecting much out of me just now.
Yes, I have a job - health care - a retirement fund. But other people are being laid off. The economy is bad. I might not have as good a situation 6 months from now. Surely God doesn't expect me to use what he's given me now - unless he's going to guarantee to me what he'll give me in the next year. Or maybe guarantee the next two years. Actually, I need him to guarantee that I'll have enough to send my kids through college, take some nice trips, fix up the house, AND fund my retirement. THEN I will invest the rest in some way to benefit the kingdom.
Wow, I'm a bit cynical today, aren't I? And yet, I think this is how we behave. I know it's what I struggle with in my own attitude.
God has given us BAGS OF GOLD!!! "Talents" of money and of other things. We did not deserve any of that. In fact, we deserved quite the opposite. And yet, with no strings attached, he says, "Go. Live. Use all this. Use your body. Use your skills. Use the good things others have built. Use this wonderful world. Glorify my name."
Is that law? Technically, yes. But is it a burden? Sometimes I'm not sure. Sometimes I think we only make it a burden because of our perspective. We see how others have used their bag-o-gold to benefit themselves and all the nice stuff they got. But we need to turn our eyes to something else. We need to look at the kingdom, and the amazing opportunity we have to do something eternal.
I feel a little bit better already.