You’ve Got Talent…

Matthew 25:14-15 “For it (the kingdom of heaven) is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 

This is a parable… a comparison made with common place things (definition found in “Encyclopedia of the Bible” on Gateway Bible App). So, Jesus was making a comparison between an owner (God) and His slaves (us). Therefore, we could say, God entrusted His possessions (those attributes that He gave us from His image when He “created us in His image”) to us. Using a dollar value, to some He gave 5 talents (recently I heard a Rabbi say that each talent would be worth approximately $10,800,000), roughly $54 million dollars in value. To others He gave 2 talents ($21,600,000) and to some, 1 talent ($10,800,000).

So, may I say, if God only gave you the equivalent of 1 talent when He “fearfully and wonderfully made you”, you would be worth MILLIONS!

Matthew 25:16-18 “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

Which one are you like? It’s an easy reach in comparison if we say, that the investment of the attributes of God’s image that is in us, would be drawing other slaves to serve (and invest) in God’s kingdom on earth. And how would that happen? We would recognize both the attributes and the value and would IMMEDIATELY (with excitement & passion) proceed to invest them as only a unique individual could/would. We would market our “wares” with truth in the advertising of how great our God is and how blessed we are by His provision.

Romans 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. NOT pride, but Daddy’s view… “sound judgement” of His child. His “well done” is a pretty high assessment!

The other example we have is the slave who “dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money”. He had his reasons… of course they all blame the master. Matthew 25:24-25 ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground.’ Can I just say… in the politically correct vernacular… well, there are no pc words… this is complete bull-poop. First, if he “KNEW” the master, he would have known the master’s intent. I think he did know and decided that his master would/could make all things grow and profit for himself, therefore, he (the slave) did not have to do anything with what he had been given. He did not have to invest nor even display what he had been given. He had no skin in the game! Maybe, if I were to imagine his thinking, I could see him fearing that the amount given in comparison to the other two was a judgement on his ability and therefor he started this competition way behind. Maybe he feared he was not capable of pleasing the master so he buried the evidence. Maybe, he was upset that he didn’t get as much and was angry enough show his master what he thought of his game (the old “If I can’t win I won’t play”).  Or maybe, he just didn’t recognize the value of the talent he had been given nor did he have the excitement or the passion to find his value in his master’s kingdom.

Whatever his reasons he paid a price for his attitude and investment ethic.

Matthew 25:30 …but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (one of those times “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”??)

The two who did their best…

Matthew 25:21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’  

The joy of your master… his kingdom… intimacy/fellowship with him… part of his crowd! Outer darkness… everywhere else.!

You and I have talents… even if I do not think more highly than I should… I know that God has given me/us His attributes when He created me/us and He is always adding to their value and beauty through the furnace of this place we call earth. He has uniquely given and uniquely honed each of us to his gold standard. Maybe you just don’t realize the value of you… Your value is not just a small gold coin… in God’s (Daddy’s) eyes it is priceless! In today’s market, you and I are millionaires!… billionaires!… you and I are worth a lot!

And… we have no excuse… any excuse we might give of valuelessness is an absolute lie. Our perception of poverty, if that is what we think of ourselves, is NOT reality. No matter how many time we tell this lie (“I am worthless”) to ourselves or others  it will not be nor ever become true. Like in Jesus’ parable, the one with the least capabilities was given MILLIONS!

Psalm 139:1-18… read it… bathe yourself in it… perceive this as your reality…

You’ve Got Talent… what are you going to do with it?

As an encourager, we need to learn to value and appraise (not judge) the various talents. Then we will know how to invest and how to give expert advice to our fellow investors.

And even then…  our expert advice… Not my will, Lord, but Yours!

God, You are good all the time… and all the time… You are good!!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB  version of the Bible