Wasting Talents
Today’s Passage – Matthew 24 – 25 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Psalms 66 – 70; Proverbs 14)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Proverbs 3:5 & 6
Read the “1014 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from today’s Bible reading passage – “Where Lord?“
“But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.” (Matthew 25:18)
The context of the chapters which we read today really has to do with Israel and the Tribulation Period, but we can certainly make some good, practical applications to ourselves for today. In the parable referenced in Matthew 25:14 – 30, we have the story of the man who left with his stewards some money (talents) for them to invest in some way and make a profit for him while he went away. (Note – a talent was actually a weight of measure, thus a talent of gold would be approximately 75 pounds of gold; etc.) He gave each of the three stewards a different number of talents, and expected each one to bring a return proportionate to the number of talents that they received. In other words, he did not expect as much from the guy that was given less talents as he did from the guy that received more talents; but he expected each man to give him a return on his investment.
The traditional way that we interpret and apply this passage is to use the secondary meaning of the word talent, which is a gift. We say that the Lord has given us each certain gifts. Some have been given more gifts than others. God expects us to be faithful and profitable with the gifts and talents that he has given us. We are not to waste our gifts by not using them, like the guy in our text who buried his talent in the ground. We are also not to misuse our gifts for sinful or selfish reasons. Our gifts are to be used to bring a return to the Saviour, and to glorify Him.
We could also make an application of this parable to the subject of stewardship which is what the passage is really dealing with anyway. However, today we no longer deal in talents, but in dollars. God supplies each one of us with a certain amount of income, and He expects us to be faithful and profitable with the money that he gives us. When we give our tithes to support the local storehouse, and we give our offerings so that worldwide missions can go forth, we are bringing the Lord a return on His investment in us. Conversely, when we hoard our money or misuse it, it is like the man who squandered the talent that the Lord gave him.
The bottom line is that we are to use whatever the Lord gives us for His Kingdom and His glory. We are only here on this earth as His ambassador anyway. Are you using your finances and talents for the Lord’s glory, or are you burying them in the sand? There is still time to get it turned around. You’re not dead yet. Dig that talent back up and invest it for the Lord. Find ways to invest yourself in God’s ministry to this lost world.
Posted in Thoughts from Matthew by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
Amen Pastor so true.Let us not hold back what already belongs to the Lord.
I have found the more I give to the church and others, the more I still hav. This includes spending money in my community. It was never really mine to begin with.
Amen Pastor. There is a saying give until it hurts well the Lord gave much more than we can give him .He suffered through beatings and being crucified so we can have the forgiveness of sin and being adopted in the family of God.let us not give grudgingly but what is due him that already belongs to him.We as Christians have to remember you cannot put a price on salvation and you cannot out give God.like the post.