Using Your Talents

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.  The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” — Matthew 25:14-18

Are you using your gifts and abilities that God has given you to bring glory and honor to Him and those around you? David McCasland tells us in “Our Daily Bread,” that on June 15, 1957, a brand-new car was buried in a concrete vault under the courthouse lawn in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In June 2007, the car was unearthed as the city celebrated Oklahoma’s 100^th year of statehood. Writing in the Tulsa World, Randy Krehbiel said: “Now we know what 50 years in a hole does to a Plymouth Belvedere.” Water seeping into the vault had turned the once shiny car into a rusted monument to the past. A hot-rod expert hired to start the engine pronounced it “hopeless.” All those years and nothing to show for it.

The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:27 that we are made in the image of God. No one would argue that God is creative, innovative and inventive. All you have to do is look around at what He’s made for us to enjoy. The Psalmist said it this way, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God and the firmament declares His handiwork.” The Bible also says that God has given us many of His attributes. We’re not God, of course, but because we are made in His image, He will use our gifts, talents and abilities to reflect Him to our culture and world—if we let Him.

In the Scripture for today, which is a parable, we see three types of people who were blessed by God. All three were given talents, which in this case were sums of money, but it could refer to anything of value. Their instruction was to use the talents for God’s glory until He returned Two out of the three did just that and doubled what the Lord had given them and they were highly commended. The third, however, mostly out of fear, buried or hid away their God-given talent and never used it.

Well, how about you? You are uniquely created. There is no one else like you. And God has gifted you. Are you fulfilling that uniqueness? Are you using your talents to serve God and others? If not, you can start today by asking God to help you—and He will. Maranatha!

Pastor Don