Are you using your talents?

What are you doing with what God has entrusted to you? Maybe you haven’t given much thought to it, but the truth is that there is A LOT that God has entrusted to you! In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus makes clear what His expectations are for us.

In Matthew 24:14ff, Matthew records Jesus’ parable about three servants who were given various amounts of “talents” or bags of gold by their master before he left for an undisclosed period of time. Two of the servants doubled what the master had given them; but the third servant chose to dig a hole and bury what he had been given because he was afraid of his master. When the master returned and discovered the excellent return two of the servants gained, he was very happy! “Well done, good and faithful servant”, he said. However, he was not pleased with the third servant at all! This one was called “worthless” and thrown out where there would be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

So what is Jesus teaching us in this parable? He wanted His followers to know that He would be leaving for a long time, but while He is gone, we aren’t to hold, hide or hoard what He has given us. The truth is that while the fearful will be pitiful, the faithful will be fruitful! You have two choices with how to manage what God has entrusted to you… you can be fearful or fruitful! How can we be fruitful?

Make the most of every opportunity to make an impression and leave a mark for Jesus Christ! 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity. Ephesians 5:16.
Use your gifts to serve Him! 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10-11. How are you using your gifts to serve Him?
Invest in others to make disciples! 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. Who will you invest in and disciple?