In the Parable of the Talents
a man who was going on a journey entrusted his servants with money, each
according to his ability. Two of the servants put their money to work and made
more; however, the third servant buried his talent and then on the master’s return
he simply gave it back. The master deemed the servant wicked, lazy and
worthless because at the very least the money should have been put on deposit with
bankers and gained some interest. We may
look at fellow believers and wonder why they seemingly have so much more than we
do — talents, gifts, wealth. We forget that our ability enters into the
equation of how much we are given. Through the parable Jesus said, “To one he
gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent,
each according to his ability” (Matt 25:15a NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Ability is an interesting thing, especially when you consider its source and cause. God is the ultimate source of all ability. The beginning of ability is at conception when the two DNA strands wind together. Some formations are not given enough ability to survive the developmental process. Others are, but yet lack important physical, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual abilities. Most are given normal abilities, and some are given profound abilities. Then mommy supplements or degrades those abilities by the way she eats, emotes, and exercises during the pregnancy. Finally, when the child is born, the broader world around it begins to influence its abilities, subtly at first, and more significantly as it ages. Finally, the child reaches a point in life when it recognizes the concept of ability and how to effect it, and so begins to deliberately do and think things which expand its ability.
-----The treatment of the man who went out and hid his master’s stuff perplexes me. At least he had the spiritual ability to not go out and spend it. And maybe he was like me, anything invested is lost. Even insurance kinds of things. I bought an expensive MFC Dec 15, 2014. I turned down the extended warranty option. It failed Dec. 23, 2015. I bought another; paid for the extended warranty; it failed Jan 15, 2016, within the store’s return period: wasted warranty. The store replaced that machine, and I waited until the very last day I had for exercising the purchase of an extended warranty, which was a Saturday, and late that afternoon when the machine was still working well, I bought another extended warranty. Monday morning, when I got to work, the machine had failed. It didn’t even work at turn-on. But it was still covered by the factory warranty. Therefore, another $50 wasted. So, I guessed wrong when I bought the machine and needed the extended warranty but didn’t buy it, then I was wrong both times thereafter, buying the extended warranties I wound up not needing. When it comes to the gamble, I always loose. I sweat blood thinking what might happen if the Lord gave me a responsibility relying on the gamble, like going out and investing His money. I relate to this poor soul. I would have gone and hidden the money, too.
-----But fortunately, being good investors is not what the story is about. The money could have been as safely hidden in an interest paying bank. Whether or not the guy had any ability to invest, his intent wound up focused on the condition of his own hide rather than upon profiting his master. My mind goes to the woman in Texas who was kidnapped in a carjacking by a fleeing escaped murderer. She could have cowered and licked his boots to save her hide. But she did not. She put her hide on the line to speak sense to him and invest the gospel. He listened, and let her go.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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