Put Your Talents To Work, And Enjoy The Master’s Response

Think about your children and grandchildren. Are you excited about how you get to raise them? “I can’t wait to take them to worship! I can’t wait to read bible stories to them, pray with them, and get them to know you, Jesus!” The same could ring true with a job you’ve been given . . . “I’m excited about how I can use my talents here! Now I’ll be able to provide for my family more. Give to church more. Help the company to grow!” It could be with the new girlfriend or boyfriend . . . “I can’t wait to find someone to grow in faith with, to raise children with, to buy a house with. . . I want to do this relationship right!”

Whether five talents or two, the Master has the same response for both. “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ There’s three things I notice here. Excitement and joy, first of all. Jesus is saying to us that God enjoys giving us gifts, and He enjoys seeing us use them to the glory of His name, when we use these gifts the way that HE wants us to use them, whether it’s your body, your money, your time, whatever it is. He also then lets you keep using what you’ve been given, and even to give you more things to do. He just keeps giving all the more. God enjoys the whole process of seeing us use His gifts well!

Contrast all of this joy with the one talent guy. The problem wasn’t that he only had one talent. He’s not jealous or bitter because he only had one talent whereas the other guys had more. The problem was with the way he viewed the Master. He said to the Master, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter seed. 25 Since I was afraid, I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ No thankfulness. No joy. Only fear. So he didn’t do ANYTHING with his talent at all.

That’s what can happen when you only look at the holiness of God and the demands of God. You only worry about messing up. You fear what kind of a spouse you’d be, a father you’d be . . . so you don’t want to get married or have children because you don’t want to fail. You don’t want a promotion because you don’t want the pressure . . . you don’t think you can handle it. . . you don’t want to ruin the company. But what about the God who says He LOVES you and the God became you? What about the God who suffered for you and chose to die for you? What about the God who forgives you? Feeds you? Cares for you? Protects you? Gives you your talents and abilities? Yes, He is holy and demanding. But He is also GRACIOUS and MERCIFUL. He is also generous and caring. He has paid for your sins. He wants you to see His mercy and forgiveness as well, in Jesus. He has worked mighty miracles through Moses and Paul and plenty of other sinners. He can work through you too! He doesn’t want you to be driven by fear. He wants you to be driven by faith in His grace.