Parable of Talents - Matt. 25:14-30

Before a man went away on a long journey he entrusted his possessions to people who worked for him. To one he gave five talents. To another two talents and another one talent.

Do you know what a talent is? During the time of Jesus, it was seventy five pounds of gold. That would be about fifteen years' pay for a soldier. Does that give you the big picture?

The first servant put his five talents to work and earned five more. The second earned two more. The last one buried his talent in the ground. When the man returned from his trip the ten and four talents impressed him and he said to the first two servants, "Well done, good and faithful servants."

Then the man turned to the third servant who said to him, "I know all about you. You're a difficult man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed. I was afraid, so I buried your talent in the ground. Look, here is your talent."

This made the man furious! "You evil, lazy servant! So you know all about me? Why then didn't you at least put my money on deposit in a bank so it would earn interest?"

The Master of the three servants invited the first two to share in his joy and put them in charge of many things, but he took away the talent from the lazy servant and gave it to the one with ten talents. Then he threw him out of his presence and that's a terrible place of darkness and crying and grinding teeth. (Based on Matthew 25:14-30).

Think About It
As with all the parables Jesus told, there is an underlying truth in the story. The man who went on a journey is God and we are His servants. He gives each of us time, talents, abilities, and money. How would you feel if you gave someone a gift and they threw it away or failed to put it to use? Me too. I would feel hurt. That's how God feels when we don't use the gifts He gives us. We owe Him all we have because He gave all He had, His only Son, for us so we could live with Him forever. However, He is happy with our first fruits, whether it is time, talent, abilities or money. Write down the gifts God gave you. Then write down how you will use them this week to serve God and others

Pray About It
Father God, You are our Treasure. We thank you for all the ways you bless us. Help us to learn to be faithful with small things so you will trust us with big things. Amen.