Matthew 25:14-30

The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴ “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. ¹⁵ “To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. ¹⁶ “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. ¹⁷ “In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’

²¹ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

²² “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’

²³ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

²⁴ “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ²⁵ ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. ²⁷ ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.

²⁸ ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ ²⁹ “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ³⁰ “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

No one wants to be that third servant.

The best means of getting something accomplished involves three steps:

1. Determine what is most important in your life.
2. Align your priorities accordingly.
3. Make a plan, write it down, and follow your plan.

So let’s start at the beginning.  What are your priorities in life?  I assume that because you are on day 36 of a very tough challenge that God is at the top of your priority list.

Because I can assume that, I can also assume that you can relate to the story of the three servants and you absolutely do not want your life to come to a close with little to nothing of eternal value to show for it.  Yesterday’s study of the Judgment Seat of Christ hopefully brought this to the forefront of your mind.

Someone once shared this frightening scenario with me and I continually envision it:  “My worst nightmare is that I die too soon and am standing before God.  On my right is a pile the size of a bowling ball.  Those are the things I did for God in my life.  But on my left is a pile the size of Mount Everest.  You know what is in that pile?  My intentions.  All of the things I planned to do for God, but never did.”

Friend, God will not be rewarding us for our intentions no matter how great they may be.

How large is your “pile of intentions” today?  How many things have you considered doing for God?  How many things have been laid on your heart?

I have one sitting on my desk right beside me while I work on this writing.  It’s a volunteer application for a local food pantry.  It’s been here for a week, filled out, ready to go, yet it still sits here – waiting on a postage stamp of all things.  It gets worse though; it spent about three weeks in my inbox waiting to be printed.  And before it arrived in my inbox, the idea to volunteer spent about a year in my head before I got the nerve to apply for the position at all.

Thankfully, God hasn’t called me home yet so there’s still a chance for me in this matter.  I can show his love in this ministry, but I must make a plan to get this application off my desk and on its way immediately!  I know my priorities, I know my plan, and now I must take action.  It’s that simple.

So I have to go for today.  The post office is only ten minutes away.

Today’s Challenge:  Today you’ll create a list of things you want to accomplish for God’s Kingdom.  What is your plan?  What would you want to be included in your list of accomplishments for God?  Write down anything that comes to mind.  Take care of what you can today and continue working out a plan for those that are longer-ranged in the next few days.