Invest Your Life Series

Big Idea:

Believe that you have SOMETHING that is UNIQUE, that you can CONTRIBUTE for His cause, through FAITH, and be REWARDED.

If you were asked at the end of your life, “Was it worthwhile?” how would you answer it?

• How do you really measure whether your life is worthwhile or not?

I like to use this popular parable – the Parable of the Talents – to help us think through this question.

• Strictly speaking, talents here refer to money. Based on the context, what the Master gave were large amounts of money that can be invested.

• But we can see it in a broader way. If the talent is something that (1) belongs to God and not us, (2) distributed “to each according to his ability” (25:15), (3) something that can be invested, on behalf of the Master, and (4) reaps benefit for the Owner and not the servant, we can understand this ‘talent’ to mean the resources (or opportunities) that God gives us to use on His behalf.

• Whatever God has given us – money, position, status, opportunities – to be used for the sake of Christ.

How best can I use what the Master has given me? I can buried it and therefore waste it (without even using it).

• Or I can spend it, that is, just use it. If it is worth $10 just buy something with it.

• Or I can invest it, like what the other two servants did, and earn more out of it.

So it is with our lives. You can waste it, not using the time wisely to benefit anyone or even self.

• You can just spend it. If it is worth 80 years, just enjoy that time on earth without any significant gain.

• But the best way will be to invest it, so that we end up with MORE than what we start off with. In order words, I am making an impact, an influence, or a contribution beyond myself.

If we can do that with money, we can do that with our lives.

• Here are 7 principles to take from this parable that can help you invest your life in a way that counts.

(1) Understand OWNERSHIP – Believe that you have SOMETHING…

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WILL BE LIKE “a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.” (Matt 25:14)

• You cannot make an impact in someone else’s life without understanding this.

• God is the Lord of your life and He works through you.

• We are more than just human beings running around on earth. We are God’s representatives, changing lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Everything we have really belongs to God. He owns this life and all that we have, and He can use them to bless those whom we are called to touch.

• Therefore if we offer them to Him, God can do with them more than what we can on our own.

• In fact, He has given them to you precisely for this purpose – to bless the world around us.

If God owns it all, it also means we will have what is needed to do the job.

• In order words, we will have the resources to change the world around us.

• If the Lord says, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” and all that we have come from Him, then logically, they must be enough to do the work.

• What we are given can do the job. No wonder someone said, “God’s will never lead you where His grace cannot keep you.”

(2) Understand ALLOCATION – believe that you have something UNIQUE

God is our Master and He allocates DIFFERENTLY to each one.

• Matt 25:15 “To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent…” WHY? “…each according to his ability.”

• Why God treats us differently? Because we are different. We have different abilities, different skill sets, experiences, maturity levels and so on.

• The Master gives them based on their ability to handle the resources given. This is precisely what 1 Cor 12 says. The Spirit of God gives gifts to everyone just as He determines (12:11).

RAKU WARE

Raku-yaki or Raku ware, is a type of Japanese pottery that is traditionally and primarily used in the Japanese tea ceremony in Japan, most often in the form of tea bowls. It is traditionally characterized by hand-molding of the clay as opposed to turning it on a potter's wheel, resulting in each piece being "one-of-a-kind".

“Each pot is hand-formed,” the tag explained, “a process that allows the spirit of the artist to speak through the finished work with particular directness and intimacy.”