DAILY DEVOTIONAL – July 11, 2019
“So Talented”
Prayer: Our Loving God and Master, You have blessed us in so many ways, most of all in the priceless gift and sacrifice of Your Son Jesus. We thank you that heaven itself is ours by grace through faith in Jesus. We have been given eternally more than we deserve. Help us to live in the knowledge of Christ, and in the confidence of Your promise to provide for all of our needs. Amen.
Scripture: Matthew 25:14-27
“The Kingdom of Heaven will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.”
Devotion – “So Talented”
This parable that Jesus tells about the talents entrusted to servants is part of a long discourse Jesus is giving. It is a discourse that began in chapter 21 after the triumphal entry of Jesus on Palm Sunday, as He rode humbly on the back of a donkey. Although Jesus talks about many things in this discourse, there is a clear theme throughout about the Kingdom of God, and specifically how we are to prepare for the final coming and realization of the Kingdom on the last day when Christ returns.
The cursing of the fig tree, Jesus’ teaching about “rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”, the parable of the two sons and the evil farmers, the parables of the ten virgins and today’s parable of the talents all address not only what the Kingdom of God will be like in the future but also how those who have already been welcomed into that Kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ are to handle and be good stewards of the salvation and blessings that the Kingdom of God graciously gives us even now, this day.
In the parable of the talents we read today, the first two servants were given two different amounts to be stewards of while their master was away. Yet, despite the different amounts they received and the different amounts they returned as a result of their investments, they both received the same praises and celebration from their master. The first servant received five bags of silver and gave five more in return. The second servant received two and gave two more in return. Although the second was given and returned 3 less bags, the master still rewarded them both equally.
Likewise, God has graciously given each of us a unique set of talents. Not talents as in bags of money, but talents as in abilities and skills, gifts that God has entrusted to us to invest for the sake of His Kingdom as His faithful people and as those who serve the Living God. However, like the first two servants, not all of us have been given the same quantity of talents and gifts, nor the same quality. Some people are more talented than others and it seems some people have been given double and triple portions of gifts and talents. Yet, as we learn in the parable, God does not judge us by the talents or gifts that we have received from Him, but instead by how we are good stewards of and how we use those talents and gifts for the benefit of our master; whether we have 2 or 5 or 500 of them.
This is where the third servant failed. He wrongly believed that his master would judge him based on how many talents he had in his possession rather than how many talents and treasures he would ultimately return to his master. So instead of making the most out of the privilege and treasure that his master put him in charge of, he buried it and rendered his talents useless.
The same is true when we either ignore or abuse the talents God has given us. Each of us has been given talents by God, that He wants to use and invest for His glory. Much like all 3 servants in the parable were expected to invest their talents in other people and institutions in order to gain a return on investment, so God wants us to use the talents and gifts we have been entrusted with by investing them in others, in order to be a blessing to others and share our Master’s love and care with them. Ultimately, God wants to use our talents in order to reap the same harvest of grace and salvation in others that He has worked in us.
Whether we have been given 1, 2 or 300 talents, many or few, God has given them to us for the same purpose of investing in others for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are judged not by how many we have, but by our faithfulness with them.
A talent was a significant measurement. Opinions vary amongst historical scholars, but we can safely say that receiving just one talent was the equivalent of receiving upwards of 20 years worth of wages. Ultimately, the exact amount is far less important than the point Jesus is making. By using such a significant measure of silver, Jesus is effectively saying, “now that I have taken care of everything for you and given you immeasurable treasure, how will you use it?” Our Lord Jesus laid down His life on the cross and sacrificed Himself in our place and for our sins purely out of grace and love. His sacrifice has won for us the very treasures of heaven itself. Eternity is ours in Christ and we have the love and care and promise of the Almighty to provide for our every need. So as with the servants in the parable Christ comes to us and asks, “Now that I have provided heaven itself with all of its splendor and riches to you through my Body and Blood, how will you live? How will you use the talents and treasure entrusted to you?”
As Jesus taught in the golden rule, we love God and show our thankfulness to Him for His immeasurable mercy and grace given to us in Christ by using what He has given us in order to love and bless our neighbor. Jesus taught in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If our treasure is wrapped up in ourselves and in burying what has been entrusted to us as the third servant did, it is because our heart is with the treasure itself and not with the Master who has so lovingly bestowed His riches upon us. Philippians 4:19 says, “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” When Christ Himself is our treasure, when all of our riches are found in Him, we know and trust in His provision and can use the talents He has given to us, whether those be skills or money itself, to be a blessing to others…just as He did.
Each one of you is gifted with wonderful talents by our loving God my friends. Use them for your Master’s glory, and remember that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
