USE IT OR LOSE IT!
“If you receive a special way—use it or lose it”
By Cheryl Deborah Thomas
Do you use what God has given you?
Matthew 25:14-30 New Living Translation (NLT)
Parable of the Three Servants
14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver[a] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together![b]’
22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Jesus told us a very important story in the parable of the talents! You can see how the Kingdom of God operates! What happens when we use what God has given us? What happens when we hide what God has given us and do not use it? Find out how to use what God has given you for His glory!
This story Jesus told gives us a window into how the Kingdom of God works. The Master in the story, who represents God has given abilities and resources to three individuals. He has given them based on their ability to handle them. So to one He gave five talents, and to the second He gave two talents and to the third He gave 1 talent. He knew what they could handle so He fairly gave each one according to their talents and skills. Now as the story unfolds you see that the first two people quickly doubled what the Master gave them. They used what had been given them and multiplied the original amount. These first two people seemed to trust the Master’s provision and to know that it was good to use it. They must have trusted that their Master was good and were pleased to present to Him double of what they had been given. They were eager to please the Master and show Him their good works. Now the third person was completely different. This person was different because of their view of the Master not because they were given less money. It is interesting to note that this third person accused the Master of three things.
You are a hard man
You harvest where you did not plant
You gather crops where you did not put any seed
Really? Let’s look at this.
Why did this servant think the Master was a hard man?
Well we can only assume the answer based on his behavior and his words
He dug a hole and buried the money he had been given…hiding it away where it could not be used for the Masters purpose.
This third servant believed the Master was unfair in demanding a harvest and crops. Was He? He accused the Master of not sowing any seed…interesting since the Master had given him some seed money.
Obviously, the Master had given Him seed and wanted a return on His investment in this man. Because of this man’s wrong beliefs about the Master He missed the blessings of using his talents to increase the influence of the Kingdom of God! How sad to know that the root of all of this was his own wicked laziness! Our beliefs influence all we do and the most important belief we can have is in the goodness, and rightness of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. He has invested in us who we are; all our gifts and talents and resources and He wants us to grow and multiply for His glory. What we believe about God influences the direction of our lives and our choices and actions show what we believe! It is important to use what God has given us so we do not lose it!
Make a list of all that God has given you.
Include everything you can be thankful for.
What abilities, talents, interests do you have?
What do you love to do?
What resources, material goods, money do you have to work with?
What can you invest in God’s Kingdom for His glory!
Determine you will learn a new skill and develop your talents. God is creative and is always working and we are made in His image. We need to be like our Creator!
LETS SING!
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