I’ve been thinking a lot about the parable Jesus told about the talents in Matthew 15:14-30:
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
This parable tugs at my heart, does it tug at yours? Here are my thoughts on it, I hope it inspires and blesses you as you read them.
If you have accepted God’s gift of salvation – accepted Jesus as your Savior, determined to make Him Lord OVER your life, you have just received the MOST precious gift you will ever be given in this life. It wasn’t a “free” gift because Jesus paid dearly for it. He took your sins (and mine) upon His sinless body and chose to die a horrific death through crucifixion. John 3:16 tells us:
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
JESUS PAID THE PRICE
So in choosing to accept His precious gift, to TRULY have decided to give YOUR life over to Him, means that you WANT to live FOR Him. Now, in saying that I want to make it clear that your works CANNOT get you into Heaven. You can’t be “good enough” to “earn” Heaven. It is totally because of God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice and your choosing to receive that gift, that you have heaven made.
BECAUSE OF JESUS, NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING YOU DO. YOUR WORKS CANNOT GET YOU INTO HEAVEN.
However, acknowledging that you NEED God, determining to live FOR Him means seeking His will and purpose for your life. Think about it, when you tell someone that you love them, you not only speak it with your words, you determine to SHOW them, right? If such is the case when you love a person, shouldn’t it be even more so when you choose to love God?
When the Creator created you, the Bible tells us in Psalm 139:13-16:
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Jeremiah 1:5 tells us:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
GOD CREATED YOU WITH A PURPOSE – YOUR PURPOSE IS TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT PURPOSE IS
Salvation is NOT a free gift, it was a COSTLY gift that Jesus paid for you – and if you have accepted that gift you have a responsibility since your life is no longer your own, to find out WHAT purpose God had preordained you to fulfill. It is NOT a secret that God is keeping from you, He WANTS you to seek His good and perfect will for your life, but it is something that you must determine to do. I can tell you from my own personal experience, that there is NO greater satisfaction than knowing that God has blessed me (and you) with talents that He FULLY expects me (and also you) to fulfill. There is a reason that God (years ago) told me He has called me to be a Scribe for Him. The scripture He gave me was Matthew 13:52:
“Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
I determined years ago to seek God’s will for my life – rather than my own, and it is because of my decision to walk in my calling that you are reading these words today. My GREATEST desire in this life that God has given me is to fulfill His purpose for my life.
DO YOU PURPOSE TO DO THE SAME?
Now, if I am to be honest, I will admit that I am not always successful in going after my calling. I often let life, feelings and ol’ slewfoot get in my way. I don’t write as often as I should, and that is a constant battle. I recognize that and I take responsibility for the choices I make that take my time away from my writing. But here is the thing – God sees my heart. Will you let Him see yours? There are higher purposes than we can see on this side of the grave that we know not. I don’t know who Holy Spirit brings to read the words He gives me to write – but I TRUST that He will use my obedience in using my God-given talents to the further the kingdom of Heaven, to save souls, heal hearts, direct people to come to know and love the LORD our God as I do and hopefully EVEN more. There are things that God WANTS you to do, has assigned for you to do that ONLY you can fulfill. Now that is not to say that if you choose not to “use your talents” for the glory of God that He won’t purpose someone else to do it – but what a shame to live a life that has accepted God’s most glorious gift of salvation and make it into Heaven (based solely on Jesus’ sacrifice) with nothing more to show for that acceptance… The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:9-15:
“For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw – each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
Listen, what God has FOR you is SO much better than what you could amount to on your own. God’s best TRULY IS best! Even though I have to push through the things that would keep me from fulfilling my purpose in Christ (and make no mistake, it isn’t always easy…) there is NO greater joy then determining to walk in the purpose God has for your life. And just to KNOW that God sees SUCH worth in you! That God has determined a responsibility He is entrusting you to co-labor WITH Him! It is humbling! And the craziest thing of all is even when you allow your talents to be used – it is not YOU doing anything other than allowing your body to be a vessel – it is Holy Spirit doing a work THROUGH your willingness to allow Him to do so! We don’t have ANY power to do anything in and of ourselves – but God Does! We can’t “save” or “change” anyone’s heart – but God can! All He is asking is for you to allow Him to work THROUGH you and to trust that He will! And the times that you fail, well – God is graceful, God is patient, God is forgiving, God is merciful – those times that we stumble in our calling, He just picks us up so we can dust ourselves off and try again! Oh dear reader – there TRULY is NO greater joy than loving Him in the BEST way you can, with ALL that you have, with ALL that you are! He tells us, “His grace IS sufficient.” And it TRULY is!
REMEMBER – HE SEES YOUR HEART!
So, I ask you to check your heart – do you REALLY love God? Is it your desire to please Him? To seek after His heart (as He determinedly seeks after yours)? It is a daily struggle – but it is also my greatest joy to “worship God through my writing.” Determine NOW, THIS day to seek Him. THIS DAY to go after with ALL your heart to allow Him to use YOU as His vessel to make Heaven crowded. There TRULY is NO greater purpose in this life than to use “all five talents” to show God that you love Him. And the crazy thing about it is that in doing so – He gives back SO much more than we can EVEN imagine… Love Him with ALL your heart, with ALL your mind and with ALL your soul – it WILL be the BEST (and most eternal) decision you will EVER make…
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